David Pieter de Villiers Graaff

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Sir David Pieter de Villiers Graaff as Mayor of Cape Town

Sir David Pieter de Villiers Graaff, 1st Baronet (born March 30, 1859 in Villiersdorp , † April 13, 1931 in Cape Town ) was a South African businessman and politician.

Origin and youth

David Pieter Graaff was the son of Petrus Norbertus Johannes Graaff (1823-1875), a servant on the farm of Pieter de Villiers , who lived in his daughter, Anna Elizabeth De Villiers (1827-1900) from the widespread originally French family of De Villiers , in love and this married.

After Graaff worked in his great-grandfather's butchery at a young age, he took over this business in 1881 together with his younger brother Jacobus. The two brothers concentrated on supplying food to ships, thereby developing the first cold rooms for food in South Africa.

Political career

The First Cabinet of the Union of South Africa under Premier Louis Botha , 1910, left to right. Back row: Barry Hertzog , Henry Burton, FR Moor, C. O'Grady Gubbins, Jan Christiaan Smuts , HC Hull, FS Malan, David Graaff; front row: JW Sauer, Louis Botha, Abraham Fischer

At the same time, Graaff was also politically active, after initially serving as a volunteer with the soldiers for some time, he became commander of the artillery in Cape Town . Thanks to his political commitment, he was soon appointed city ​​councilor and mayor of Cape Town . In this function Graaff was one of the initiators for the laying of electrical lines in the city. He was also a member of the Cape Colony Parliament between 1891 and 1897 .

During the Boer War (1899-1902) Graaff was an army supplier to the British troops. But he also raised large sums of money for the captured Boers. In this way, he was able to guarantee medical care for sick women and children.

After the Boer War, Graaff invested in real estate in and around Cape Town. Among other things, he bought the country house De Grendel , located outside Cape Town, where he raised Frisian cattle. His descendants run a renowned winery there.

Graaff and his brother Jacobus also founded De Villiers Graaff High School in the town of Villiersdorp in 1907 .

David Pieter Graaff and Luis Botha

From 1908 to 1910, David Pieter Graaff was Minister without Portfolio in the last Cabinet (1908–1910) of the Cape Province . Since he was a close friend and political confidante of General Louis Botha  - the first Prime Minister of the South African Union  - he held various ministerial offices under the Botha government. For example, he appeared as Minister of Post and Telegraphy (1911–1912), Minister without Portfolio (1912–1913) and Minister of Finance (1915–1916). Together with Louis Botha, he took part in the Versailles Peace Treaty as a delegate from South Africa . In the years from 1908 to 1920 Graaff was again a member of parliament.

Baronet, of Cape Town

David Pieter Graaff was bestowed the hereditary title Baronet, of Cape Town by the British King George V in 1911 for his services to his country . His eldest son, David Pieter De Villiers Graaff , succeeded him as a baronet.

literature

  • Dictionary of South African Biography . Volume 2.
  • L. Barnard and D. Kriek (Eds.): Sir De Villiers Graaff . Digma, Pretoria 1990.
  • De Villiers Graaff: Div Looks Back. The memoirs of Sir De Villiers Graaff . Human & Rousseau, Cape Town 1993.

Web links

Commons : David Graaff  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The London Gazette : No. 28509, p. 4833 , June 30, 1911.
personal data
SURNAME Graaff, David Pieter de Villiers
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Graaff, Sir David Pieter de Villiers, 1st Baronet
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African businessman and politician
DATE OF BIRTH March 30, 1859
PLACE OF BIRTH Villiersdorp
DATE OF DEATH April 13, 1931
Place of death Cape Town