View source for D. F. Malan

{{for|the South African cricketer|Daniel Malan (cricketer)}}
{{Short description|Prime Minister of South Africa from 1948 to 1954}}
{{Use South African English|date=January 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox Prime Minister
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|PC|size=100%}}
| image            = DFMalanPortret.jpg
| caption          = Portrait of Malan
| order            = 4th
| office           = Prime Minister of South Africa
| term_start       = 4 June 1948
| term_end         = 30 November 1954
| monarch          = {{ubl|[[George VI]]|[[Elizabeth II]]}}
| governor-general = {{ubl|[[Gideon Brand van Zyl]]|[[Ernest George Jansen]]}}
| predecessor      = [[Jan Smuts]]
| successor        = [[J. G. Strijdom|Johannes Strijdom]]
| order1           = [[Minister of Home Affairs (South Africa)|Minister of the Interior, Education and Public Health]]
| term_start1      = 30 June 1924
| term_end1        = 20 May 1933
| primeminister1   = [[J. B. M. Hertzog|Barry Hertzog]]
| predecessor1     = Sir [[Patrick Duncan (governor-general)|Patrick Duncan]]
| successor1       = [[Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr (1894–1948)|Jan Hofmeyr]]
| birth_name       = Daniël François Malan
| birth_date       = {{birth date|df=y|1874|5|22}} 
| birth_place      = [[Riebeek-West]], [[Cape Colony]]
| death_date       = {{death date and age |df=y|1959|2|7|1874|5|22}}
| death_place      = [[Stellenbosch]], [[Cape Province]], [[Union of South Africa]]
| party            = {{unbulleted list|[[National Party (South Africa)|National]] (1914–1935) (1948–59)|[[Purified National Party|Purified National]] (1935–1939)|[[Herenigde Nasionale Party|Herenigde Nasionale]] (1940–1948)}}
| profession       = Clergyman, politician
| spouse           = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Martha van Tonder|1926|1930|reason=died}}
* {{marriage|Maria Louw|1937}}
}}
| children         = {{unbulleted list|2 sons|1 daughter (adopted)}}
| alma_mater       = {{unbulleted list|[[University of Stellenbosch]]|[[University of Utrecht]]}}
}} 

'''Daniël François Malan''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|PC}}  ({{IPA|af|ˈdɑːni.əl franˈsʋɑː mɑːˈlan}}; 22 May 1874 – 7 February 1959) was a [[South Africa|South African]] politician who served as the fourth [[prime minister of South Africa]] from 1948 to 1954. The [[National Party (South Africa)|National Party]] implemented the system of [[apartheid]], which enforced [[racial segregation]] laws, during his tenure as prime minister.

==Early life==
{{D. F. Malan series}}
Daniël François Malan was born on 22 May 1874 in [[Riebeek-West]] in the [[Cape Colony]]. His father, who bore the same name, was a wealthy farmer and clergyman. His mother was Ana Magdalena du Toit. He was the fifth of nine children, four of whom did not survive childhood.

The progenitor of the Malan name in the South African region was a [[French Huguenot]] refugee named Jacques Malan from [[Provence]] ([[Mérindol]]), France, who arrived at the Cape before 1689.<ref>''Les Français Qui Ont Fait L'Afrique Du Sud'' ("The French People Who Made South Africa"). [[Bernard Lugan]]. January 1996. {{ISBN|2-84100-086-9}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=September 2025}} The Malan name is one of a number of Afrikaans names of French origin which have retained their original spelling. Malan's older sister, [[Francina Susanna Louw|Cinie]], later became a missionary and linguist.<ref>{{cite journal | author-first1=Lindie |author-last1=Korf |doi=10.1080/02582470802417474| title= Behind Every Man: D.F. Malan and the Women in his Life, 1874-1959 |journal=South African Historical Journal |date=2008 |volume=60 |issue=3 |pages=397–421 |url=https://www.academia.edu/511013 | access-date=4 September 2021}}</ref>

Malan obtained a B.A. in Music and Science from [[Victoria College, Stellenbosch]], whereafter he entered the Stellenbosch seminary in order to train as a [[religious minister|minister]] in the [[Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK)|Dutch Reformed Church]]. Along with his studies in [[theology]], he obtained a M.A. in Philosophy from Victoria College, later to be the [[University of Stellenbosch]].<ref name="Korf2008">{{cite journal|last1=Korf|first1=Lindie|title=Behind Every Man: D.F. Malan and the Women in his Life, 1874–1959|journal=South African Historical Journal|volume=60|issue=3|year=2008|pages=397–421|issn=0258-2473|doi=10.1080/02582470802417474|s2cid=145581158|url=https://www.academia.edu/511013}}</ref> Malan left South Africa in 1900 to study towards a [[Doctorate in Divinity]] at the [[University of Utrecht]], which he obtained in 1905.

==Career==

===Dutch Reformed Church minister===
Malan returned to South Africa, where he was ordained as a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church and served for six months as an assistant-minister in [[Heidelberg, Gauteng|Heidelberg, Transvaal]]. He was an ardent fighter for the acceptance of [[Afrikaans]], which was an emerging language fighting against [[Dutch language|Dutch]] and English, and was a founding member of the [[ATKV|Afrikaanse Taal- en Kultuurvereniging]] (ATKV, 'The Afrikaans Language and Cultural Society'), which was established in 1930. He was stationed in [[Montagu, South Africa|Montagu]] from 1906 to 1912 and thereafter in [[Graaff-Reinet]] until 1915. He also undertook a journey on behalf of the Dutch Reformed Church, visiting religious Afrikaners living in the [[Belgian Congo]], [[Northern Rhodesia]], and [[Southern Rhodesia]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/daniel-francois-malan|title=Daniel Francois Malan|last=sahoboss|date=17 February 2011|work=South African History Online|access-date=24 January 2018}}</ref>

===Political career===
{{Apartheid}}
Malan's involvement in [[National Party (South Africa)|National Party]] politics began shortly after the NP's formation in 1914. In those years, political parties had affiliated newspapers that served as their mouthpiece. However, Nationalist-minded Afrikaners in the Cape had no such outlet and therefore, in 1915, decided to found ''De Burger'', which later became known as ''[[Die Burger]].'' They persuaded Malan to become the editor of the new newspaper and he used it as a springboard for entry into parliament.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/daniel-francois-malan|title=Daniel Francois Malan|date=17 February 2011|website=South African History Online|access-date=7 August 2019}}</ref> As he was worried about the Afrikaners' political position in the aftermath of the [[Maritz rebellion|1914 Rebellion]], he relinquished his position as a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church to accept the position. The Cape branch of the National Party was founded in 1915 and Malan was elected as its provincial leader. In 1918, he was elected to [[Parliament of South Africa|Parliament]] for the first time as MP for the seat of [[Calvinia]] in the [[House of Assembly of South Africa|House of Assembly]]. He held that seat until 1938 when he became the MP for [[Piketberg]].

When the National Party came to power for the first time in 1924 under Prime Minister [[J. B. M. Hertzog]], Malan was given the post of Minister of the Interior, Education and Public Health, which he held until 1933. In 1925, he was at the forefront of a campaign to replace Dutch with Afrikaans in the constitution and provide South Africa with [[Flag of South Africa (1928-1994)|a new national flag]].

After the 1933 election, the [[United Party (South Africa)|United Party]] was formed out of the fusion of Hertzog's National Party and the rival [[South African Party]] of [[Jan Smuts]]. Malan strongly opposed this merger and, in 1934, he and 19 other MPs defected to form the [[Purified National Party]], which he led for the next 14 years as the opposition.

Malan opposed South African participation in [[World War II]]. South Africa's participation in the conflict was unpopular among the [[Afrikaner]] population, and in 1939 that led to a split in the governing [[United Party (South Africa)|United Party]]. The defectors united with the National Party, dramatically strengthening Malan's political position, and he consequently defeated Smuts and the United Party in the [[1948 South African general election|1948 general election]].

During Malan's tenure as prime minister, South Africans lost the right of appeal from the Appellate Division of the [[Supreme Court of South Africa]] to the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]] in London under the terms of the [[Privy Council Appeals Act, 1950]].

The foundations of apartheid were firmly laid during Malan's six-and-a-half years as prime minister. On 24 February 1953, Malan was granted dictatorial powers to oppose black and Indian anti-apartheid movements.<ref>{{cite news |hdl=10500/8477|title=Malan Seeks Dictatorial Powers in South Africa 'Emergency'|first=Albion |last=Ross|date=28 January 1953|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> Malan resigned in 1954 at the age of 80 with the hopes of [[Nicolaas Havenga]] being appointed as the prime minister. However, Havenga was defeated by [[J. G. Strijdom]].<ref>{{cite web |website=[[Britannica]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Daniel-Malan |title=Daniel F. Malan |access-date=5 March 2022}}</ref>

==Death==

Malan died on 7 February 1959 at Môrewag, his home in [[Stellenbosch]], aged 84.<ref name="hartfordcourantobit">{{cite news|title=D. F. Malan, S. African Racist, Dies|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/370706726/?terms=%22D.%2BF.%2BMalan%22|access-date=18 February 2018|work=Hartford Courant|date=8 February 1959|page=5|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=registration }}</ref> His book, ''Afrikaner Volkseenheid en my ervaringe op die pad daarheen'' ("[[Afrikaner nationalism]] and my experiences on the road to it"), was published in the same year by ''Nasionale Boekhandel''. A collection of his writings and documents is housed in the Document Centre at the University of Stellenbosch's J.S. Gericke Library. He is positioned 81st on the [[SABC3's Great South Africans]] list.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Malan, Daniel Francois}}
[[Category:1874 births]]
[[Category:1959 deaths]]
[[Category:Afrikaner Broederbond members]]
[[Category:South African anti–World War II activists]]
[[Category:People from Swartland Local Municipality]]
[[Category:South African people of French descent]]
[[Category:South African people of Dutch descent]]
[[Category:Afrikaner nationalists]]
[[Category:Members of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK)]]
[[Category:National Party (South Africa) politicians]]
[[Category:Purified National Party politicians]]
[[Category:Herenigde Nasionale Party politicians]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of South Africa]]
[[Category:Ministers of home affairs of South Africa]]
[[Category:Ministers of education of South Africa]]
[[Category:Ministers of health of South Africa]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Assembly (South Africa)]]
[[Category:South African anti-communists]]
[[Category:Apartheid government]]
[[Category:Stellenbosch University alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of Paul Roos Gymnasium]]
[[Category:South African members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Foreign ministers of South Africa]]
[[Category:People of the Korean War]]