Frederik willem de klerk biography examples

State President of South Africa from 1989 to 1994

In this article, the surname is de Klerk, not Klerk.

Frederik Willem de KlerkOMG DMS (də-KLURK, də-KLAIRK, Afrikaans:[ˈfriədərəkˈvələmdəˈklɛrk]; 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president from 1994 to 1996.

As South Africa's last head of state from the era of white-minority rule, he and his government dismantled the apartheid system and introduced universal suffrage.

Frederik willem de klerk biography examples

Ideologically a social conservative and an economic liberal, he led the National Party (NP) from 1989 to 1997.

Born in Johannesburg to an influential Afrikaner family, de Klerk studied at Potchefstroom University before pursuing a career in law.

Joining the NP, to which he had family ties, he was elected to parliament and sat in the white-minority government of P. W. Botha, holding a succession of ministerial posts. As