A project intended to record all the famous South Africans on our Geni tree: from writers, to statesmen & women, to sports heroes.

Hierdie Projek is bedoel om al die bekende Suid-Afrikaners aan te teken op ons Geni boom: van skrywers, tot staatshoofde en vroue, tot sport helde.

(1) How to Add a Profile to a Project Page

(2) Suggested Letter to Profile Managers of Profiles added to this Project

World Famous Notable Personalities

• Nelson Mandela
• Mohandas Gandhi
• Christiaan Barnard
• Jan Smuts
• Charlize Theron
• Paul Kruger
• Arnold Vosloo Actor

South African Famous and world known prophets

• Niklaas Oom Siener van Rensburg

Special Mention: Geni's Founder: David Sacks

Trending Now: June's SA Olympic Team 2012 Project:

• Cameron van der Burgh. Men's 100m Breaststroke Gold Medalist 58.46 WR
• Chad le Clos. Men's 400m Butterfly Gold Medalist 1;52.96
• James Thompson one of the Lightweight Four Rowing team

Nobel Prize Winners

• Nadine Gordimer Literature 1991
• Nelson Mandela Peace 1993
• FW de Klerk Peace 1993
• Sydney Brenner (1927-) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2002 for work in RNA biology. Born and educated in SA, moved to England to pursue research work

Still not on our tree - Anyone related to:

• J. M. Coetzee, Literature, 2003
• Desmond Tutu, Peace, 1984*
• Albert Lutuli, Peace, 1960
• Max Theiler, (1899-1972.) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1951 for vaccine for Yellow Fever.
• Allan McLeod Cormack (1924-1998.) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1951 for x-ray tomography. Born and studied in SA. X-ray work started in Cape Town before emigration to USA. Co-inventor of the CT scanner.
• Aaron Klug (1926-). Nobel prize in Chemistry for his development of crystallographic electron microscopy and his structural elucidation of biologically important nucleic acid-protein complexes. Born Lithuania, raised and educated in SA, moved to UK in 1950s to pursue research work.

Scientists, Environmentalists, Engineers & Inventors

• Christiaan Barnard
• Sydney Brenner (1927-) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2002 for work in RNA biology. Born and educated in SA, moved to England to pursue research work
• Sir Herbert Baker (1862-1946) Architect commissioned by Cecil Rhodes to rebuild Groote Schuur hospital; designed the Union Buildings in Pretoria; South Africa House in London, new Bank of England in London. He wrote his reminiscences, 'Cecil Rhodes by His Architect'
• Robert Broom (1866-1951). Medical doctor, paleontologist and paleoanthropologist. Studied mammal-like reptiles from the Karoo, then joined the Transvaal Museum and carried out excavations at Sterkfontein and other sites, finding 'Mrs Ples'. Proposer of the 'Australopithicine' family of early hominids.
• Ferdinand Chauvier (-1985). Hydrualics engineer who emigrated to SA from the Belgian-Congo in 1951 and designed the pool Kreepy-Krauly.
• Allan McLeod Cormack (1924-1998.) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1951 for x-ray tomography. Born and studied in SA. X-ray work started in Cape Town before emigration to USA. Co-inventor of the CT scanner.
• James Stevenson-Hamilton (1867-1957). Considered the father of the Kruger Park, through his efforts as administrator to establish and protect the initial park.
• Eugene Marais (1871-1936). Naturalist
• Aaron Klug (1926-). Nobel prize in Chemistry for his development of crystallographic electron microscopy and his structural elucidation of biologically important nucleic acid-protein complexes. Born Lithuania, raised and educated in SA, moved to UK in 1950s to pursue research work.
• Eric Mowbray Merrifield (-1982). East London Harbour Engineer, and Aubrey Kuger (dates unknown) - designers of the dolos concrete blocks used to protect harbours and breakwaters from damage by ocean waves.
• George Pratley (-1983). Inventor and engineer. Designer of pratley putty glue, that amongst other things was used to hold parts of spacecraft together in 1969 on the Apollo 11 first moon-landing mission.
• Sir Arnold Theiler (1867-1936). Swiss-born father of veterinary science in South Africa. Developed vaccines for smallpox amongst Witwatersrand gold miners, and for rinderpest in cattle.
• Max Theiler, (1899-1972.) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1951 for vaccine for Yellow Fever.
• Phillip Tobias (1925-) Paleoanthropologist

Military Heroes

• Koos de la Rey Boer War General
• Gideon Jacobus Scheepers Cape rebel executed during Boer War
• Sailor Malan
• J.P.H. Crowe First South African born recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Major General Dan Pienaar WWII
• Jan Christoffel Greyling Kemp Boer War General

Still not on our tree - Anyone related to:

• Andrew Beauchamp-Proctor 1894-1921. WW1 fighter pilot, VC recipient.
• Edwin Harris Dunning 1892-1917 - Squadron Commander, Royal Naval Air Service, first person to land an aircraft on a moving ship (a prototype aircraft carrier).
• John Dering Nettleton 1917-1943. WW2 VC recipient for daylight bombing raid on the Augsburg diesel engine factory in 1942.
• Gerard Ross Norton. 1915-2004. One of four SA recipients of the VC during WW2. Captured enemy machine guns when his platoon was pinned down in Italy in 1944
• Marmaduke Thomas St. John (Pat) Pattle. 1914-1941. WW2 fighter pilot, probably the highest scoring allied fighter pilot of the war, officially credited with 34 enemy aircraft, unofficially credited with over 50 however this is unconfirmed due to the loss of 80 (RAF) squadron's records during the chaotic retreat from Greece, Pattle's own death over Piraeus, and the loss of many other squadron members.
• Quentin George Murray Smythe. 1916-1997. One of four SA recipients of the VC during WW2. Awarded for capture of german strong points in the Western Desert. Farmer from Richmond and grandson of penultimate Prime Minister of Natal
• Edwin Essery Swales 1915-1945. WW2 VC recipient. Bomber pilot who lost his life when he held his crippled Lancaster aircraft steady, first to complete his role as master pathfinder on a raid, then for the other seven crew members to safely bail out.
• General Sir Hesperus Andrias (Pierre) van Ryneveld 1891-1972, WW1 pilot, pioneer of the north-south air route from Britain to South Africa, then set up the South African airforce in 1920, and was Chief of the General Staff of the Union Defence Force, from 1933 to 1949, throughout WW2

Spotprent Tekenaars/Caricature Artists

• Rufus Papenfus

Writers

• Guy Butler
• Roy Campbell
• Nadine Gordimer
• Antjie Krog
• C.J. Langenhoven (Sagmoedige Neelsie / Kerneels), (1873–1932)
• Eugène Nielen Marais
• Thomas Pringle Scottish 1820 Settler - writer, Poet and abolitionist
• Deneys Reitz
• Dr. Neil Rosenstein, Genealogist
• Olive Schreiner
• Gillian Slovo
• Totius
• NP van Wyk Louw
• Hendrik Carl Vos Leibbrandt
• Izak David (ID) du Plessis
• C. Louis Leipoldt

Still not on our tree - Anyone related to:

• Lionel Abrahams
• Tatamkulu Afrika
• Herman Charles Bosman, (1905–1951)
• Breyten Breytenbach, (1939– )
• Andre Brink, (1935– )
• John Maxwell Coetzee, awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature, (1940– )
• Bryce Courtenay, (1933– )
• Jeremy Cronin
• Ahmed Essop, born in India, grew up in Johannesburg (1931– )
• Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, (1862–1931)
• Athol Fugard, (1932– )
• Damon Galgut, (1963– )
• Bessie Head, born in South Africa but usually seen as a Botswanan writer, (1937–1986)
• Elsa Joubert (OIS), born as Elsabé Antoinette Murray on 19 October 1922 in Paarl, is an Afrikaans-speaking South African writer who rose to prominence with her novel ‘Die swerfjare van Poppie Nongena’
• Douglas Livingstone, born in Malaysia, (1932–1996)
• Chris Mann, (1949– )
• Dalene Matthee, (1938–2005)
• Zakes Mda, (1948– )
• Es'kia (Ezekiel) Mphahlele, (1919–2008 )
• Oswald Mtshali, (1940– )
• Alan Paton, (1903–1988)
• Sol T. Plaatje, (1876–1932)
• Laurens van der Post, (1906–1996)
• Sipho Sepamla, (1932–2007 )
• Mongane Wally Serote, (1944– )
• Wilbur Smith, (1932– )
• Christopher van Wyk, (1957– )
• Lyall Watson, (1939–2008)

Artists

• Thomas Baines, colonial painter and explorer (1820–1875)
• David Goldblatt (1930 - ) Documentary Photographer
• Peter Magubane (1932 - ) Photographer
• Geerard Moerdijk (1890-1958) Architect, most famously, of the Voortrekker Monument
• George Pemba, visual artist (1912–2001)
• Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef, artist (1886–1957)
• Jan Gerard Sekoto, artist and musician (1913–1993)
• Irma Stern, painter (1894–1966)
• Vladimir Tretchikoff, painter (1913–2006)
• Cecil Skotnes, painter (1926–2009)
• Zapiro (Jonathan Shapiro) (1958 -)

Entertainers

• Dana Niehaus
• Charlize Theron
• Marda Vanne
• Arnold Vosloo
• Johnny Clegg

Still not on our tree - Anyone related to:

• Brenda Nokuzola Fassie (1964 – 2004) Singer
• Miriam Zenzile Makeba (1932 - 2008) Singer
• Hugh Ramopolo Masekela (born April 4, 1939) Jazz Musician; Singer
• Pieter Dirk Uys
• Leon Schuster

Convicted Criminals

• Daisy de Melker
• Andre Stander 1946-1984. Audacious bank-robbing police officer from Kempton Park. Son of Frans Stander, a general in the department of correctional services.

Political Leaders

See also: Governors of the Cape Colony Project

• Willem Cornelis Janse van Rensburg 1818-1865
• Kader Asmal b.1934, Minister of Education 1999-200
• Sibusiso Bengu b.1934 Minister of Education (1994-99)
• Goodwill Zwelethini kaBhekuzulu, b.1948 traditional King of Zulu nation 1971- present
• Louis Botha, 1862-1919 Prime Minister of South Africa, 1910-1919
• P.W. Botha, 1916-2006 Prime Minister of South Africa (1978-84); State President (1984-89)
• Mangosuthu Buthelezi (b.1928); Inkosi of the Buthelezi tribe, 1953-present; Chief Minister of KwaZulu "Homeland" (1976-94)
• Schalk Willem Burger (1852-1918); President of the South African Republic, (Transvaal), 1900-1902
• Arthur Chaskalson b.1931; Chief Justice of South Africa, 2001–2005
• Zach de Beer (1928-99), last leader of Progressive Federal Party, co-founder of Democratic Party
• F.W. de Klerk (b.1936); last State President, 1989-94; succeeded by Nelson Mandela
• Patricia de Lille (b.1951); founder, in 2003, of Independent Democrats
• Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (b.1949); Foreign Minister 1999-200
• Colin Eglin (b. 1925), leader of Progressive Party 1971-1975, Progressive Reform Party 1975-1977, and Progressive Federal Party 1977-1979 & 1986-1988
• Abram "Bram" Fischer (1908-1975) Politician; Chairman of SACP
• Herbert John Gladstone (1854-1930); Governor-General 1910-14;
• Tembisile 'Chris' Hani (1942-1993 ), Chief of Staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe; leader of South African Communist Party from 1991 until his assassination in 1993. South Africa's first Nobel Peace laureate.
• J. B. M. Hertzog (1866-1942); Prime Minister of South Africa 1924-39
• Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr (Onze Jan) (1844-1909); Afrikaner Political Leader
• Paul Kruger (1825-1904); "Oom Paul", President of the South African Republic (Transvaal), 1883-1900
• Piet Koornhof (1925-2007), apartheid-era cabinet minister and ambassador, later a member of the African National Congress
• Stephanus Johannes Kruger (1825 – 1904) Voortrekker, politician, President of the Zuid-Afrikaanse Republiek (ZAR) from, prominent social and political figure, key figure in conservation efforts and the establishment of the Kruger National Park.
• Harry Lawrence (1901-1973): United Party Minister 1939-1948 and first Progressive Party Chairman from 1959
• Tony Leon (b.1956); Leader of the Opposition, 1999-2007
• Chief Albert John Luthuli (1898-1967), President of the African National Congress, 1952-67
• DF Malan (1874-1959); Prime Minister of South Africa 1948-54
• General Magnus Malan (b.1930), Chief of South African Defense Force 1976-80; Minister of Defence, 1980-91;
• Wynand Malan (b.1943); co-founder of Independent Party and Democratic Party
• Nelson Mandela (b. 1918); leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe 1961-90; President of South Africa 1994-99
• Trevor Manuel (b.1956); Minister of Finance, 1996-2009
• Maselewane Modjaji, Rain Queen I
• Masalandbo Modjaji, Rain Queen II
• Khetoane Modjadji, Rain Queen III
• Makoma Modjadji, Rain Queen IV
• Mokope Modjadji, Rain Queen V
• Makobo Modjadji, Rain Queen VI
• Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (b.1942); President of South Africa 1999-2008
• Moshoeshoe 1786-1870, uniter of the Basotho, leading to the ultimate formation of Lesotho.
• Dullah Omar (1934-2004); Minister of Justice, 1994-99; Minister of Transport 1999-2004
• Marthinus Wessel Pretorius (1819-1901); First President of the South African Republic (1857-63)
• Cyril Ramaphosa (b.1952); Secretary General of African National Congress 1991-94; Chairman of Constitutional Assembly 1994-97
• Deneys Reitz (1882-1944); Boer Commando, soldier (World War I), Cabinet Minister, Deputy Prime Minister (1939-1943), High Commissioner to London (1944)
• Mosima "Tokyo" Sexwale; Premier of Gauteng province, 1994-98
• Ray Alexander Simons née Alexandrowich (1913 – 2004) Secretary of the South African Communist Party
• Field Marshal Jan Smuts (1870-1950); Prime Minister, 1919-24 and 1939-48
• Joe Slovo (1926-95); General Secretary of SACP 1984-91
• JG Strijdom (1893-1958); Prime Minister 1954-58
• JGN Strauss(1900-90); Leader of the United Party, 1950-56
• Helen Suzman (1917-2009); anti-apartheid M.P. 1952-1981
• Charles Robberts (Blackie) Swart (1894-1982); Governor-General 1960-61; first State President 1961-67
• Jan van Riebeeck (1619-77); first Dutch administrator of Cape Town settlement, 1652-62
• Simon van der Stel Governor of the Cape
• Frederik van Zyl Slabbert (b. 1940); Leader of the Opposition as chairman of the Progressive Federal Party, 1979-86.
• H.F. Verwoerd (1901-66); nicknamed "The Architecht of Apartheid"; Prime Minister, 1958-66, until his assassination.
• George Villiers, 6th Earl of Clarendon (1877-1955); Governor-General, 1931-37
• Marais Viljoen (1915-2007); State President, 1979-84
• John Vorster (1915-83); Prime Minister, 1966-78; State President, 1978-79
• Jacob Zuma (b. 1942); President of South Africa 2007 - present
• Zille, Helen (b.1951); Mayor of Cape Town, 2006-2009; Premier of Western Cape province, 2009- present)
• Shaka Zulu (Shaka kaSenzangakhona) 1787-1828 uniter of the Zulu Kingdom.
• Lord Charles Somerset (1767-1831); Governor of the Cape

Fighters for Freedom from Oppression / Peaceful Activists

• Stephen Bantu Biko (1946 – 1997) Political Activist
• Mohandas Gandhi
• Koos de la Rey Boer War General
• Ahmed Mohamed "Kathy" Kathrada (1929 - ) Political Activist
• Helen Joseph (1905 – 1992) Teacher; Social Worker; Political Activist
• Sailor Malan
• Nelson Mandela (b. 1918); leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe 1961-90; President of South Africa 1994-99; Nobel Peace Prize Winner 1993
• Fatima Meer (1928 – 2010) Political Activist
• Beyers Naude
• Hector Pieterson (1964 - 16 June 1976) Schoolboy shot dead In Soweto riots for protesting Bantu Education
• Albertina Nontsikelelo Sisulu (1918 – 2011) Political Activist called 'the mother of the nation', Nurse
• Robert Sobukwe(1924-1978) former political activist and founder of PAC
• Walter Ulyate Sisulu (1912 – 2003) Political Activist
• Albertina Sisulu, (1919-2011) Political Activist and wife of Walter Sisulu
• Oliver Tambo (1917-1993) Political Activist, spent 30 years in exile
• Archbishop Emeritus Mpilo Desmond Tutu (1931 -) Archbishop of CT; Humanitarian
• Sheila Weinberg (1945 – 2004) Political Activist; Humanitarian

Sports Men and Women

Rugby

• Naas Botha
• Frik Eloff
• Danie Gerber
• Francois Pienaar
• See also South African Rugby Hall of Fame / RWC 2011

Golf

• Gary Player
• Ernie Els
• Retief Goosen

Cricket

• Ali Bacher
• Allan Lamb South African born; South Africa; England
• Tony Greig -South African born; England
• Kepler Wessels - South African born. South Africa; Australia
• Hansie Cronje
• Greaeme Pollock
• Basil D'Oliveira
• Jacques Kallis
• Allan Donnald
• Gary Kirsten
• Makhaya Ntin
• Clive Rice
• Danie Craven
• Jake White

Swimming

• Natalie du Toit

GOLD medal London 2012 Natalie du Toit Women's 100m Butterfly - her 11th gold medal overall.

• Ryk Neethling
• Roland Mark Schoeman

Tennis

• Eric Sturgess
• Frew Macmillen
• Andrew Patterson
• Bob Hewitt
• Cliff Drysdale
• Brian Norton (1899)
• Sheila Summers
• Sandra Reynolds Price
• Renee Schuurman
• Raymond Moore
• Russel Seymour
• Johan Kriek
• Pat Spence

Athletics

• Oscar Pistorius

Wrestling

• Johannes van der Walt (The Masked Wonder)

Conservationists

• Ian Player (1927 – )
• James Stevenson-Hamilton

Heroes and Heroines

• Wolraad Woltemade
• Emily Hobhouse

Mining Greats

• Barney Barnato
• Cecil John Rhodes
• George Harrison - prospector (dates unknown) who discovered the gold bearing Main Reef on the farm Langlaagte in 1886, which lead to the gold rush on the Witwatersrand and the creation of Johannesburg.
• Harry Oppenheimer (1908-2000). Businessman - De Beers, Anglo American
• Hans Merensky 1871-1952, geologist who discovered many of South Africliterature, his own contribution to the arts in South Africa was profound.

Traders:

• João Albasini

Chief Rabbis:

• Joseph H. Hertz 1898-1911unofficial
• Yehudah Leib Landau - (1915–1942)
• Louis Rabinowitz — (1945–1961)
• Bernard M. Casper - (1963–1987)
• Cyril Harris - (1988–2004)
• Warren Goldstein - (2005 to present)

Titanic Survivors and Casualties with South African Connections

The following people who were on the Titanic when she sank on 15 April 1912 have connections to South Africa. Some are quite tenuous or distant!

• Austin Blyler van Billiard Casualty
• Thomas William Solomon Brown Casualty
• Elizabeth Catherine Brown nee Ford survivor
• Edith Eileen Brown survivor. She married Frederick Thankful Haisman.
• William Bull Casualty
• Francesco Celotti Casualty
• Charles Henry Chapman casualty
• Nathan Goldsmith Casualty
• Herbert Gifford Harvey Casualty
• Samuel Emest Hemming Survivor
• Robert Hichens Survivor
• Sydney Samuel Jacobsohn Casualty
• Henry Forbes Julian Casualty
• Charles Kennell Casualty
• John Edward Maquire Casualty
• Emma Lellyet Casualties
• Fredrick (Frank John?) Roberts
• Henry (aka Harry) Sutehall Casualty
• George Frederick Charles Talbot Casualty
• William Jeffery Ware Casualty
• James Webber Casualty

Connect the People to the Places in 'Cuzzin Country'

Personal Stories

• Cassirer - Sotheby's & Fine Arts
• Reinhold Cassirer
• Prince Nkosinathi Gamedze
• Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom
• Invictus: Mandela; Pienaar & the Winning of the Rugby World Cup
• Shaka Zulu
• 'She' - Modjadji; The Rain Queen

References

• Wikipedia Famous South Africans
• Encyclopedia of Nations, Famous South Africans
• Biographies of Famous South Africans
• Lys van bekende Suid-Afrikaners

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Related Geni Projects:

• SA Olympic Team 2012 Project