Lodewicus Johannes du Plessis (1897-1968) was a South African academic, alternative Afrikaner political philosopher, and Calvinist.

Roots

He was born on 10 February 1897 in Burgersdorp, Cape Colony. He was the son of Jacobus Albertus du Plessis and Laurika Postma. He married Engela Susanna van der Merwe on 12 January 1926. He died on 19 February 1968 in Potchefstroom, Transvaal, South Africa.

Education

Du Plessis matriculated in 1912 from

Potchefstroom Gimnasium Potchefstroom Gimnasium is a public Afrikaans medium co-educational high School in Potchefstroom, North West, South Africa. Beginnings It was founded in 1907, by the Theological Centre of the Reformed Church of South Africa. Dutch was the langu ...

. He received his BA, BA Hons (Classical languages) and MA (Classical languages) at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...

. Later he also received a master's degree in Economics, as well as an LL.B. (law degree).

Career

In 1918 he started as a senior lecturer in Classical languages at The Theological Seminar of the

Reformed Church Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...

(Afrikaans: ''Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika'') in Potchefstroom. After obtaining the economics and law qualifications, he was offered a professorship in economics, political science and ethics at the

Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education The Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (abbreviated as PU for CHE) was a South African university located in Potchefstroom. Instruction was mainly in Afrikaans. In 2004, the university was merged with other institutions to c ...

. In later years he focused on law. He was secretary of the commission who translated the Bible in Afrikaans and was an advisor to Totius.

Calvinism

He was an alternative Calvinist, in the sense that he believed that only Calvinism is not the answer. He was open to a combination of Calvinism, Marxism and other possible beliefs.

Politics

He was actively participating in Afrikaner politics, although he never stood for office. He was chairman of the Afrikaner Broederbond from 1930-1932. He was not scared to differ from political leaders such as

J.B.M. Hertzog General James Barry Munnik Hertzog (3 April 1866 – 21 November 1942), better known as Barry Hertzog or J. B. M. Hertzog, was a South African politician and soldier. He was a Boer general during the Second Boer War who served ...

DF Malan Daniël François Malan (; 22 May 1874 – 7 February 1959) was a South African politician who served as the fourth prime minister of South Africa from 1948 to 1954. The National Party implemented the system of apartheid, which enforce ...

and J. G. Strijdom. His biggest clash was with H.F. Verwoerd, which caused him to be expelled from the National Party. Then, he also left the Afrikaner Broederbond. He was not in favour of Verwoerd's racial policy and his definition of an Afrikaner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Du Plessis, Lodewicus 1897 births 1968 deaths People from Burgersdorp Cape Colony people Afrikaner people South African people of French descent Members of the Reformed Churches in South Africa Calvinist and Reformed philosophers Academic staff of North-West University University of Pretoria alumni