Sir David de Villiers Graaff, 3rd Baronet (3 May 194024 January 2015), was a South African businessman and owner of De Grendel Wine Estate. The son of Sir De Villiers Graaff, 2nd Baronet, he was born in 1940, after his father left to serve in the North African Campaign. Sir De Villiers became a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

in 1942, and would not meet his son until 1945. David took his undergraduate degree BSC Agric

University of Stellenbosch 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 ...

, preparatory to a career in politics and farming, but also read politics, philosophy and economics at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

and studied at the

University of Grenoble The Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA, French: meaning "''Grenoble Alps University''") is a public research university in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 resea ...

. Like his father, he entered South African politics and served as Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry under

FW De Klerk Frederik Willem de Klerk (, , 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president from 1994 to 1996 in the democratic government. As South A ...

, he retired in 1996. When he inherited the baronetcy and the family estate of De Grendel upon his father's death, he decided to experiment with viniculture and winemaking. Sir David was a director of Graaffs Trust and The Milnerton Estates Limited. He was the Honorary Colonel of the

Cape Garrison Artillery A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

until his death on 24 January 2015. Sir David is survived by his wife Sally and his four children, the eldest of whom,

De Villiers de Villiers is a common French and Afrikaans surname. It may refer to: * De Villiers (playwright) (c. 1600–1681), French playwright and actor *AB de Villiers, a former South African international cricketer *De Villiers Graaff, a former South Afr ...

, succeeded him in the baronetcy and farming at De Grendel Estate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graaff, David De Villiers, 3rd Baronet Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Viticulturists 1940 births 2015 deaths People from the Western Cape Afrikaner people Government ministers of South Africa

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Stellenbosch University alumni Grenoble Alpes University alumni People from Cape Town