F. W. de Klerk
F. W. de Klerk (1936), South African statesman, president (1989-94). De Klerk practised as a lawyer before entering South Africa’s House of Assembly in 1972. He became leader of the National Party and state president following the resignation of P. W. Botha in 1989. As president, de Klerk showed an unexpected readiness to dismantle South Africa’s apartheid system. He freed Nelson Mandela and other leaders of the outlawed ANC (1990), ended classification by race (1991), and signed a new constitution (1993). Following multiracial elections in 1994, he was replaced as president by Mandela, becoming a deputy president. De Klerk and Mandela were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for peace in 1993.
