Elizabeth "Betsie" Verwoerd (née Schoombee; 17 May 1901 – 29 February 2000) was the spouse of the

Prime Minister of South Africa The prime minister of South Africa ( af, Eerste Minister van Suid-Afrika) was the head of government in South Africa between 1910 and 1984. History of the office The position of Prime Minister was established in 1910, when the Union of Sout ...

from 2 September 1958 until the assassination of her husband

Hendrik Verwoerd Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (; 8 September 1901 – 6 September 1966) was a South African politician, a scholar of applied psychology and sociology, and chief editor of ''Die Transvaler'' newspaper. He is commonly regarded as the architect ...

on 6 September 1966. Betsie was of Danish descent and born on 17 May 1901 to Wynand Johannes Schoombee and Anna Francina Susanna Schoombee (née Naude) in

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

in the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

. Betsie met her husband while they both attended

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

in the early-1920s. They were married in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

where Verwoerd was studying on 7 January 1927. The couple returned to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in 1928. They had seven children - five sons (Wilhelm, Hendrik, Christian, Daniel and Wynand) and two daughters (Anna and Elsabeth). One of her daughters, Anna, married

Carel Boshoff Carel Willem Hendrik Boshoff (9 November 1927 – 16 March 2011) was a South African professor of theology and Afrikaner white nationalist. Biography Boshoff was born in Nylstroom in the Transvaal Province as the second child of Willem Sterrenb ...

, who later founded the Afrikaner settlement of

Orania Orania () is an Afrikaner separatist town founded by Afrikaners in South Africa. It is located along the Orange River in the Karoo region of the Northern Cape province. The town is split in two halves by the R369 road, and is from Cape Tow ...

. Her husband was assassinated on 6 September 1966. Afterwards, she occasionally conducted some official duties such as opening the

Hendrik Verwoerd Dam The Gariep Dam is located in South Africa, near the town of Norvalspont, bordering the Free State and Eastern Cape provinces. Its primary purpose is for irrigation, domestic and industrial use as well as for power generation. Name The Gariep Dam ...

(later renamed Gariep Dam) in 1972. In 1992, she moved to

, the Afrikaner settlement founded by her son-in-law. She was visited by the first Black

President of South Africa The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of South Africa and is the commander-in-chief of the South African Nationa ...

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

, 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 her in 1995. After her death, her house in Orania was converted into a museum. A primary school in

Randfontein Randfontein is a gold mining town in the West Rand, Gauteng, South Africa, west of Johannesburg. With the Witwatersrand gold rush in full swing, mining financier JB Robinson bought the farm Randfontein and, in 1889, floated the Randfontein Est ...

was previously named in her honour; it was later renamed Laerskool Westgold. A street in

Goodwood, Cape Town Goodwood is a suburb of Cape Town in the Western Cape, South Africa and is situated in the Tygerberg region of the City of Cape Town. It is 10 kilometres from Cape Town and accessible from the N1, N7 and N2 highways. The town was established i ...

retains her name.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Verwoerd, Betsie 1901 births 2000 deaths Afrikaner people South African people of Danish descent Spouses of prime ministers of South Africa Stellenbosch University alumni Orania, Northern Cape