The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Pretorius, Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus
(prtôr´s, Du. än´drs vlhl´ms yäk´bs prtôr´s) (KEY) , 1799–1853, Boer (Afrikaner) leader. He was elected (1838) commandant general of the Boers of Natal and in that year defeated a large force of Zulus at Blood River. This victory made possible the organization of a Boer Republic of Natal (see KwaZulu-Natal). In 1848, Pretorius led a party of Boers across the Drakensberg and created there the nucleus of the South African Republic (the Transvaal). The city of Pretoria was named in his honor.
tôr´
s, Du. än´dr
l´m
´b
tôr´
