Charles Robberts Swart
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His Excellency Charles Robberts Swart |
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|---|---|
 |
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| State President of South Africa | |
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In office 31 May 1961 – 1 June 1967 |
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| Preceded by |
Elizabeth II as Queen of South Africa |
| Succeeded by | Jozua François Naudé |
| Governor-General of South Africa | |
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In office 11 December 1959 – 30 April 1961 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Preceded by |
Lucas Cornelius Steyn as Officer Administering the Government |
| Succeeded by | Lucas Cornelius Steyn as Officer Administering the Government |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
5 December 1894 Winburg, Orange Free State |
| Died | 16 July 1982 (aged 87) Bloemfontein, Orange Free State Province, South Africa |
| Political party | National Party |
| Spouse(s) | Cornelia de Klerk (1903-1986) |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater |
University of the Free State Columbia University |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Religion | Dutch Reformed |
Charles Robberts Swart (5 December 1894 – 16 July 1982) was a South African politician who served as the last Governor-General of Union of South Africa from 1960 to 1961 and the first State President of the Republic of South Africa from 1961 to 1967.
Swart was born on 5 December 1894 on the farm Morgenzon, in the Winburg district, part of the Boer republic of the Orange Free State (which became a British colony in 1902 and a province of the Union of South Africa in 1910).
He was the third of six children, born to Hermanus Bernardus Swart (1866–1949) and Aletta Catharina Robberts (1870–1929). The Anglo Boer War (Second Boer War) broke out when he was 5 years old. During the war his mother and the children were interned at the Winburg concentration camp. Of the three boys only two survived the concentration camp. His father was wounded and captured by the British during the Battle of Paardeberg. He became a prisoner of war and stayed in Groenpunt and Simonstad until the end of the war.
When Swart was 7 years old he went to the government school in Winburg. He later went to a C.N.O. school, which is a school set up by the Afrikaners in response to Lord Milner's anglicisation policy at the government sponsored schools. Later on, the schools merged again with the result that he move moved up a grade. He was only 13 years old when he passed his higher exam (matric or last year of school).
He established himself as a barrister in 1914. He spent a brief period in Hollywood acting in silent films, before embarking on his public career. He practised law in Bloemfontein from 1919 to 1948. He earned a degree in journalism from Columbia University in New York in 1921–1922. He reported briefly from Washington for the Die Burger newspaper.
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