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eventREF E-0083945Revised

Event record

Nicolaas Jacobus Smit, Vice-President of the ZAR, is born in Graaff-Reinet.

Nicolaas Jacobus Smit, Vice-President of the ZAR, is born in Graaff-Reinet.

Date
30 May 1837
Updated
30 Sep 2019
Nicolaas Jacobus Smit, Vice-President of the ZAR, is born in Graaff-Reinet.

Nicolaas Jacobus Smit, was the eldest child of Nicolaas Jacobus Smit, (descendent of Jan Smit and Adriana Tol) and Elizabeth Magdalena van der Merwe, (descendent of Willem Schalk van der Merwe and Elsie Cloete) all progenitors from the Netherlands, arriving at the Cape prior to 1688.  Smit, a Boer general in the Anglo-Transvaal War and Vice-President of the South African Republic (SAR), was born at Doornbos, Graaff-Reinet district, Eastern Cape, on 30 May 1837. He was Commander of the Boer forces at the battles of Ingogo and Majuba. He won the Battle of Majuba Hill, the most important battle of the First Boer War, which was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881. As a member of the SAR Volksraad he was elected Vice-President in 1887. Nicolaas Jacobus Smit died in Pretoria on 4 April 1896.

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How we know this

  1. 01YFM, Today In History (T.I.H.): May 30, [online], Available at: www.yworld.co.za  [Accessed: 2 May 2014]
  2. 02Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2012, May 25). Nicolaas Jacobus Smit, Vice-President of the ZAR, is born in Graaff-Reinet.. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0083945

South African History Online (2012) 'Nicolaas Jacobus Smit, Vice-President of the ZAR, is born in Graaff-Reinet.', South African History Online, 25 May. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0083945 (Accessed: 1 August 2026).

South African History Online, Nicolaas Jacobus Smit, Vice-President of the ZAR, is born in Graaff-Reinet. [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0083945, (accessed 1 August 2026).

"Nicolaas Jacobus Smit, Vice-President of the ZAR, is born in Graaff-Reinet.." South African History Online, 25 May 2012, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0083945. Accessed 1 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "Nicolaas Jacobus Smit, Vice-President of the ZAR, is born in Graaff-Reinet.." South African History Online. May 25, 2012. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0083945.

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