Gideon Brand van Zyl explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
Gideon Brand van Zyl
Width:220
Order1:7th
Office1:Governor-General of South Africa
Term Start1:1 January 1946
Term End1:1 January 1951
Monarch1:George VI
Successor1:Ernest George Jansen
Birth Date:3 June 1873
Birth Place:Cape Town, Cape Colony

Gideon Brand van Zyl, PC (in Afrikaans pronounced as /ˈbrænt fan ˈzɛil/; 3 June 18731 November 1956[1]) was Governor-General of the Union of South Africa from 1945 to 1950.

Born in Cape Town, he was the son of a prominent attorney, and he joined the family firm after qualifying at the University of Cape Town. During the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), he was a legal adviser to the British War Office.

In World War I (1914–1918), he was Deputy Director of War Recruiting, and served in the Cape Peninsula Garrison Regiment (a home defence unit).

Van Zyl entered politics in 1915, as a member of the Unionist Party. He was a member of the Cape Provincial Council (the provincial legislature) until 1918, and then a member of Parliament until 1942. He was Deputy Speaker from 1934 to 1942 (the Speaker being Dr Ernest George Jansen, who was later also governor-general).

From 1942 to 1945, Van Zyl was Administrator of the Cape Province. He served as Governor-General from 1945 until 1950. He was appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in 1945. In 1947, he hosted King George VI and the British Royal Family when they toured South Africa.

Van Zyl married Marie Fraser in 1900. He died in 1956.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Biography of Zyl, Gideon Brand van . 13 November 2013.