Betsie Verwoerd
Elizabeth "Betsie" Verwoerd was the spouse of the Prime Minister of South Africa from 2 September 1958 until the assassination of her husband Hendrik Verwoerd on 6 September 1966.
Betsie was of Danish descent and born on 17 May 1901 in Middelburg in the Cape Colony.
Betsie met her husband while they both attended Stellenbosch University in the early 1920s. They were married in Hamburg, Germany where Hendrik was studying on 7 January 1927. The couple returned to South Africa in 1928. They had seven children - five sons and two daughters. One of her daughters, Anna, married Carel Boshoff, who later founded the Afrikaner settlement of Orania.
Her husband was assassinated in 1966. Afterwards, she occasionally conducted some official duties such as opening the Hendrik Verwoerd Dam in 1972.
In 1992 she moved to Orania, the Afrikaner settlement founded by her son-in-law. She was visited by the first democratically-elected President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela at her home in 1995.
Betsie Verwoerd died at her home on 29 February 2000 at the age of 98. Nelson Mandela expressed his sadness at her death, stating he had been impressed with her "pure Afrikaner hospitality" when he visited in 1995.
After her death her Amietis Street, Orania house was converted into a museum. A primary school in Randfontein was previously named in her honour; it was later renamed. A street in Goodwood, Cape Town retains her name.
