Louis Botha

General The Right Honourable Louis Botha
1st Prime Minister of South Africa
In office 31 May 1910 – 27 August 1919
Monarch	George V
Governors‑General	The Viscount Gladstone The Viscount Buxton
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Jan Smuts
Prime Minister of the Transvaal
In office 4 March 1907 – 31 May 1910
Monarchs	Edward VII George V
Governor	The Earl of Selborne
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Himself (as Prime Minister of South Africa)
Personal details
Born	27 September 1862 Greytown, Colony of Natal
Died	27 August 1919(1919-08-27) (aged 56) Pretoria, Transvaal, Union of South Africa
Resting place	Rebecca Street Cemetery, Pretoria, South Africa
Political party	South African Party
Other political affiliations	Het Volk Party
Spouse	Annie Emmett ​ (m. 1886)​
Profession	Career military officer, politician
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	South African Republic Union of South Africa British Commonwealth
Years of service	1899–1902 (Transvaal Commandos) 1902–1919 (British Imperial Armies)
Rank	General
Commands	Boer, South African Republic
Battles/wars	Second Boer War Colenso Spioen kop World War I South-West Africa Campaign Maritz rebellion

Louis Botha (locally /ˈbʊərtə/ BOOR-tə,^[1] Afrikaans pronunciation: [ˈlu.i ˈbuəta]; 27 September 1862 – 27 August 1919) was a South African politician who was the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa, the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war veteran during the Second Boer War, Botha eventually fought to have South Africa become a British Dominion.