Marthinus Wessel Pretorius was born in September 17, 1819, near Graaff-Reinet in the then Cape Colony. He was a boer statesman, soldier, eldest son of the Great Trek leader Andries Pretorius, and the first president of the South African Republic and founder of Pretoria. He died on the 19th of May , 1901, in Potchefstroom.
