Hendrik Verwoerd

(1901-1966)

Former South African Prime Minister

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Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (8 September 1901 – 6 September 1966), also commonly referred to as Dr. Verwoerd, was a South African politician, a scholar of applied psychology and sociology, and a journalist. Verwoerd played an instrumental role in socially engineering apartheid, the country's system of institutionalized racial segregation and white supremacy, and implementing its policies as Minister of Native Affairs (1950–1958) and then prime minister (1958–1966). Furthermore, he played a vital role in helping the far-right National Party come to power in 1948, serving as their political strategist and propagandist, becoming party leader upon his premiership. He was the Union of South Africa's last prime minister, from 1958 to 1961, when he proclaimed the founding of the Republic of South Africa, remaining its prime minister until his assassination in 1966.