Jan Christian Smuts (in The Company's Garden) - Cape Town, South Africa
S 33° 55.707 E 018° 24.988
34H E 261185 N 6242770
This is one of the two statues near/in The Company's Garden that honors Jan Christian Smuts. Smuts was a prominent citizen and leader in South Africa.
Waymark Code: WMJ7B8
Location: Western Cape, South Africa
Date Posted: 10/05/2013
Views: 2
About Jan Christiann Smuts:
Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, OM, CH, ED, KC, FRS
Born May 24, 1870
Died September 11, 1950
Smuts was a prominent South African and British Commonwealth military leader, philosopher and statesman. He held various cabinet posts, he also served as Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa twice ( first from 1919 to 1924 and later 1939 to1948). Smuts served in World War I, leading South Africa armies against Germany and capturing German South-West Africa and commanded the British Army in East Africa. He was one of 5 members of the British War Cabinet from 1917-1919. He served asa British field marshal in World War II, and served in the Imperial War Cabinet under Winston Churchill. He was the only person to sign each of the peace treaties ending the First and Second World Wars. He led commandos in the Second Boer War for the Transvaal.
About the statue:
There are actually 2 statues of Jan Smuts in Cape Town: this one has been more controversial than the more popular one by Ivan Mitford-Barberton in 1973 and is located near the Slave Lodge on Adderly Street.
This statue was the first of these statues to be created, and is a more stylized rendition of Smuts. It was created by Sydney Harpley and is located just off Government Avenue in front of the National Art Gallery (in the Cape Town Gardens), not a half mile from the other Smuts statue. It has been reported that when local officials and the public viewed this statue, they chose to "hide" it here, and have a second statue created, which they then placed in the favored location near the Slave Lodge.
Visit Instructions:
You must have visited the site in person, not online.