|
Pieter Kenyon Fleming-Voltelyn van der Byl, ID (11 November 1923 – 15 November 1999) was a Rhodesian politician who served as his country's Foreign Minister from 1974 to 1979 as a member of the Rhodesian Front (RF). A close associate of Prime Minister Ian Smith, Van der Byl opposed attempts to compromise with the British government and domestic black nationalist opposition on the issue of majority rule throughout most his time in government. However, in the late 1970s he supported the moves which led to majority rule and internationally recognised independence for Zimbabwe. After a high-flying international education, Van der Byl moved to the self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia in 1950 to manage family farms. He went into politics in the early 1960s through his involvement with farming trade bodies, and became a government minister responsible for propaganda. One of the leading agitators for Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965, Van der Byl was afterwards responsible for introducing press censorship. He was unsuccessful in his attempt to persuade international opinion to recognise Rhodesia as a new nation, but was popular among the members of his own party. Promoted to the cabinet in 1968, Van der Byl became a spokesman for the Rhodesian government and crafted a public image as a die-hard supporter of continued white minority rule. In 1974 he was made Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence at a time when Rhodesia's only remaining ally, South Africa, was supplying military aid. His extreme views and brusque manner made him a surprising choice for a diplomat (a November 1976 profile in ''The Times'' described him as "a man calculated to give offence"〔David Spanier, "Rhodesia's Foreign Minister a man calculated to give offence", ''The Times'', Thursday 4 November 1976, page 7〕). After offending the South African government, Van der Byl was removed from the Defence Ministry. In the late 1970s Van der Byl was willing to endorse the Smith government's negotiations with moderate black nationalist leaders and rejected attempts by international missions to broker an agreement. He served in the short-lived government of Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979, following the Internal Settlement. After the country's reconstitution as Zimbabwe in 1980, Van der Byl remained in politics and close to Ian Smith; he loudly attacked former RF colleagues who had gone over to support Robert Mugabe. He retired to South Africa after the Mugabe government abolished the parliament seats reserved for whites in 1987. ==Family and early life== Van der Byl was born in Cape Town, and was the son of Major Pieter Voltelyn Graeme van der Byl, a member of Jan Smuts' South African cabinet during World War II, and his wife Joy Fleming. Like his father, Van der Byl was educated at the Diocesan College in Rondebosch〔(Rhodesian Personalities ): Pieter Kenyon Fleming-Voltelyn van der Byl〕 but his studies were interrupted by war in 1941.〔Dan van der Vat, "Pieter van der Byl: Rich, white aristocrat behind Rhodesia's bid to stop black rule" (obituary), ''The Guardian'', 30 November 1999, p. 22〕 He served with the South African Army during the Second World War〔 and was briefly attached to the British 7th Queen's Own Hussars;〔 he saw active service in the Middle East, Italy and Austria. After being demobilised, Van der Byl studied law at Pembroke College, Cambridge〔List of Members of Cambridge University〕 where his aristocratic manner stood out. "P. K." was always elegantly dressed and coiffured, and acquired the nickname "the Piccadilly Dutchman". He obtained a Third-class degree in his Part II Law examinations in 1947,〔Historical Register of Cambridge University, supplement 1941–1950 (Cambridge University Press, 1952), p. 208〕 and went on from Cambridge to study at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration from 1947 to 1948 (although he did not obtain a degree at the latter).〔Harvard Alumni Directory 1986, p. 1256. Van der Byl is counted in the Class of 1949.〕 He also studied at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa.〔: The main players〕 One of the most conspicuous features of Van der Byl was his manner of speech: although his ancestry was Cape Dutch and his early life was in Cape Town, South Africa, he had what were described (by the pro-Rhodesian Chris Whitehead) as "what he thought was an aristocratic English nasal drawl and imperial English mannerisms".〔(PK, Chris Whitehead ) Rhodesian personalities〕 Whitehead was of the opinion that Van der Byl had "adopted" this accent, in common with others who heard him.〔See, e.g., Denis Hills, "Rebel People", George Allen and Unwin, 1978, page 204: Van der Byl has "a flow of mannered phrases which he delivers in a flawed Guards officer accent." This (Rhodesian newspaper cartoon ) shows another reaction.〕 This personal characteristic was intensely irritating to many people including South African government ministers, but Van der Byl's aristocratic mannerisms appeared uncontentious to many Rhodesian whites. They believed that his "nasal drawl" was the product of his time as an officer in the Hussars and his Cambridge education: William Higham described him as "a popular Minister of Defence who, despite his British upper crust accent – undoubtedly honed during his swashbuckling career as an officer in the hussars – hailed from a noble Cape family." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「P. K. van der Byl」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|
