Piet Retief | |
|---|---|
 Statue at the Voortrekker Monument | |
| Born | Pieter Mauritz Retief 12 November 1780 Soetendal, Wagenmakersvallei |
| Died | 6 February 1838 (aged 57) KwaMatiwane, near Hlomo amabuto, uMgungundlovu |
| Cause of death | Clubbed to death by Zulus |
| Body discovered | c. December 21, 1838 KwaMatiwane, uMgungundlovu |
| Resting place | December 21, 1838
KwaMatiwane, uMgungundlovu 28°25′37″S 31°16′12″E / 28.42694°S 31.27000°E |
| Nationality | Boer, South African |
| Spouse | Magdalena Johanna Greyling (née De Wet) (1782–1855) |
| Children | Debora Jacoba (1815–1901) Jacobus Francois (1816– ) Magdalena Margaretha (1820–1884) Pieter Cornelis (1823–1838) |
| Parent(s) | Jacobus Retief (1754–1821) Debora Joubert (c.1749–1814) |
| Signature | |
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Pieter Mauritz Retief (12 November 1780 – 6 February 1838) was a Voortrekker leader. Settling in 1814 in the frontier region of the Cape Colony, he later assumed command of punitive expeditions during the sixth Xhosa War. He became a spokesperson for the frontier farmers who voiced their discontent, and wrote the Voortrekkers' declaration at their departure from the colony.[1]
He was a leading figure during their Great Trek, and at one stage their elected governor.[2] He proposed Natal as the final destination of their migration and selected a location for its future capital, later named Pietermaritzburg in his honour.[3] The massacre of Retief and his delegation by the Zulu King Dingane and the extermination of several Voortrekker laagercamps in the area of the present town of Weenen led to the Battle of Blood River on the Ncome River.[4] The short-lived Boer republic Natalia suffered from ineffective government and was eventually annexed to the British Cape Colony.[5]
- ^ Piet Retief (2 February 1837). "Manifesto of the Emigrant Farmers". Grahamstown Journal.
- ^ VAN TONDER, D. M.; MOURI, H. (1 September 2010). "Petrology and Geochemistry of the Granitoid Rocks of the Johannesburg Dome, Central Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa". South African Journal of Geology. 113 (3): 257–286. doi:10.2113/gssajg.113.3.257. hdl:2263/16607. ISSN 1012-0750.
- ^ "Warren, Ernest, (1871–29 Jan. 1946), late Director Natal Museum, Pietermaritzburg, Natal", Who Was Who, Oxford University Press, 1 December 2007, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u233153, retrieved 31 May 2022
- ^ Chewins, Linell (7 December 2021). "'Stealing Dingane's Title': The Fatal Significance of Saguate Gift-Giving in Zulu King Dingane's Killing of Governor Ribeiro (1833) and Piet Retief (1838)". Journal of Southern African Studies. 48 (1): 119–138. doi:10.1080/03057070.2022.2001964. ISSN 0305-7070. S2CID 247012527.
- ^ KUPER, ADAM (24 January 2007). "The death of Piet Retief*". Social Anthropology. 4 (2): 133–143. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8676.1996.tb00321.x. ISSN 0964-0282.