F. W. de Klerk

His Excellency F. W. de Klerk OMG DMS
de Klerk in 1990
7th State President of South Africa
In office 14 August 1989 – 10 May 1994 Acting until 20 September 1989
Preceded by	Pieter Willem Botha
Succeeded by	Nelson Mandela (as President)
1st Deputy President of South Africa
In office 10 May 1994 – 30 June 1996 Serving with Thabo Mbeki
President	Nelson Mandela
Preceded by	Alwyn Schlebusch (as Vice State President)
Succeeded by	Thabo Mbeki (solely)
13th Leader of the Opposition
In office 1996–1997
President	Nelson Mandela
Preceded by	Constand Viljoen
Succeeded by	Marthinus van Schalkwyk
7th President of the National Party
In office 2 February 1989 – 8 September 1997
Preceded by	Pieter Willem Botha
Succeeded by	Marthinus van Schalkwyk (New National Party)
Ministerial offices 1978‍–‍1989 Minister of National Education and Planning In office 17 September 1984 – 15 August 1989 President Pieter Willem Botha Preceded by Gerrit Viljoen (National Education) Succeeded by Gene Louw (Education and Culture) Minister of Home Affairs In office 1982–1985 President Pieter Willem Botha (1984–1985) Prime Minister Pieter Willem Botha (1982–1984) Preceded by Chris Heunis Succeeded by Stoffel Botha Minister of Mines and Energy In office 1979–1982 Prime Minister Pieter Willem Botha Preceded by Stephanus Petrus Botha Succeeded by Pietie du Plessis Minister of Sport and Recreation In office 1978–1979 Prime Minister Pieter Willem Botha Preceded by Piet Koornhof Succeeded by Gerrit Viljoen (National Education) Minister of Posts and Telecommunications In office 1978–1979 Prime Minister Johannes Vorster Pieter Willem Botha Preceded by Hendrik Smit Succeeded by Johannes Petrus van der Spuy Minister of Social Welfare and Pensions In office January 1978 – October 1978 Prime Minister Johannes Vorster Preceded by Johannes Petrus van der Spuy Succeeded by Schalk van der Merwe
Personal details
Born	Frederik Willem de Klerk (1936-03-18)18 March 1936 Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa
Died	11 November 2021(2021-11-11) (aged 85) Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Political party	National Party (1972–1997)
Other political affiliations	NNP (1997–2005)
Spouses	Marike Willemse ​ ​ (m. 1959; div. 1996)​ Elita Georgiades ​ (m. 1999)​
Children	3
Parent	Jan de Klerk (father)
Alma mater	Potchefstroom University (BA, LLB)
Profession	Attorney politician
Signature
Website	Foundation

Frederik Willem de Klerk OMG DMS (/də ˈklɜːrk, də ˈklɛərk/ də-KLURK, də-KLAIRK, Afrikaans: [ˈfriədərək ˈvələm də ˈklɛrk]; 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president from 1994 to 1996. As South Africa's last head of state from the era of white-minority rule, he and his government dismantled the apartheid system and introduced universal suffrage. Ideologically a social conservative and an economic liberal, he led the National Party (NP) from 1989 to 1997.

Born in Johannesburg to an influential Afrikaner family, de Klerk studied at Potchefstroom University before pursuing a career in law. Joining the NP, to which he had family ties, he was elected to parliament and sat in the white-minority government of P. W. Botha, holding a succession of ministerial posts. As a minister, he supported and enforced apartheid, a system of racial segregation that privileged white South Africans. After Botha resigned in 1989, de Klerk replaced him, first as leader of the NP and then as State President. Although observers expected him to continue Botha's defence of apartheid, de Klerk decided to end the policy. He was aware that growing ethnic animosity and violence was leading South Africa into a racial civil war. Amid this violence, the state security forces committed widespread human rights abuses and encouraged violence between the Xhosa and Zulu people, although de Klerk later denied sanctioning such actions. He permitted anti-apartheid marches to take place, legalised a range of previously banned anti-apartheid political parties, and freed imprisoned anti-apartheid activists such as Nelson Mandela. He also dismantled South Africa's nuclear weapons program.

De Klerk negotiated with Mandela to fully dismantle apartheid and establish a transition to universal suffrage. In 1993, he publicly apologised for apartheid's harmful effects. He oversaw the 1994 non-racial election in which Mandela led the African National Congress (ANC) to victory; de Klerk's NP took second place. De Klerk then became Deputy President in Mandela's ANC-led coalition, the Government of National Unity. In this position, he supported the government's continued liberal economic policies but opposed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up to investigate past human rights abuses because he wanted total amnesty for political crimes. His working relationship with Mandela was strained, although he later spoke fondly of him. In May 1996, after the NP objected to the new constitution, de Klerk withdrew it from the coalition government; the party disbanded the following year and reformed as the New National Party. In 1997, he retired from active politics and thereafter lectured internationally.

De Klerk was a controversial figure among many sections of South African society. He received many awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize (shared with Mandela) for his role in dismantling apartheid and bringing universal suffrage to South Africa. Conversely, he received criticism from anti-apartheid activists for offering only a qualified apology for apartheid, and for ignoring the human rights abuses by state security forces. He was also condemned by pro-apartheid Afrikaners, who contended that by abandoning apartheid, he betrayed the interests of the country's Afrikaner minority.