F W de Klerk

F. W. de Klerk (Frederik Willem de Klerk) , 1936-, South African statesman, president of South Africa (1989-94). Holding ministerial posts from 1978, he became (1989) acting president when P. W. Botha resigned. Recognizing that black resistance to the white power monopoly would only increase, de Klerk, despite his conservative reputation, began the process of ending apartheid , lifting the ban on antiapartheid parties and releasing Nelson Mandela from prison in 1990. In 1991 he obtained the repeal of all remaining apartheid laws and called for the drafting of a new constitution, leading to the approval of a multiracial transitional government in 1993. De Klerk and Mandela were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993. Mandela succeeded de Klerk as president in 1994, and de Klerk became one of two vice presidents in a government of national unity. Two years later the National Party withdrew from the government to form an official opposition, and in 1997 De Klerk retired from politics.

Bibliography: See his autobiographical The Last Trek (1999).

de Klerk, F.W. ( Frederik Willem) (1936– ) South African statesman, president (1989–94). De Klerk entered parliament in 1972 and joined the cabinet in 1978. In 1989, de Klerk led a ‘palace coup’ against P. W. Botha, and became president and National Party leader. Following a narrow electoral victory, de Klerk began the process of dismantling apartheid. In 1990, the ban on the African National Congress (ANC) was lifted and Nelson Mandela was released. In 1991, the principal apartheid laws were repealed and victory in a 1992 whites-only referendum marked the end of white minority rule. In 1993, he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela. Following the 1994 elections, de Klerk became deputy president in Mandela's government of national unity. In 1996, he resigned and led the Nationalists out of the coalition. He retired as leader of the National Party in 1997.

http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/1993/klerk-bio.html; http://www.fwdklerk.org.za/