| The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07. |
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| Pretorius, Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus |
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(pr tôr´  s, Du. än´drs vlh l´ms yäk ´bs pr tôr´s) (KEY) , 1799–1853, Boer (Afrikaner) leader. He was elected (1838) commandant general of the Boers of Natal and in that year defeated a large force of Zulus at Blood River. This victory made possible the organization of a Boer Republic of Natal (see KwaZulu-Natal). In 1848, Pretorius led a party of Boers across the Drakensberg and created there the nucleus of the South African Republic (the Transvaal). The city of Pretoria was named in his honor. |
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| | | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright © 2007 Columbia University Press. |
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