{{Short description|Boer political leader, President of the Republic of Swellendam}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Hermanus Steyn | image = President Hermanus Steyn.png | birth_date = 15 February 1743 | birth_place = Bruintjiesrivier, Swellendam, Dutch Cape Colony | death_date = {{death date and age|1804|||1743|2|15}} | caption = President Hermanus Steyn | death_place = Jan Harmsgat, Swellendam, Cape Colony | term_end = 4 November 1795 | term_start = 17 June 1795 | title = | office = President of the Republic of Swellendam | predecessor = ''Office established'' | successor = ''Office abolished'' | parents = Hermanus Steyn d'Oude and Martha Potgieter | spouse = Anna Margaretha Van Staden (m. 1765) | children = 7 | office2 = Head of Swellendam Home Council | predecessor1 = | predecessor2 = Hermanus Steyn d'Oude | country = Swellendam | vice_president = Petrus Delport | honorific_prefix = President | honorific_suffix = | allegiance = 23px Republic of Swellendam<br> 23px Republic of Graaff-Reinet }} '''Hermanus Steyn''' (15 February 1743, Swellendam – 1804, Swellendam) was a Boer political leader and the President of the short-lived Republic of Swellendam. When the rule of the Dutch East India Company fell in 1795 and the Swellendam citizens called their own Republic into existence, he was elected as president. A few months after the arrival of the British, an end was made to this Republic.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Die Afrikaner |publisher=Herman Giliomee |pages=52}}</ref>
==Biography== He was born and baptized in 1743 near Bruintjies River, which was then the border of the Dutch Cape Colony.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Afrikaner Geskiedenis |date=12 September 2023 |url=https://www.afrikanergeskiedenis.co.za/hermanus-steyn-1743-1804/}}</ref> He married ''Anna Margaretha Van Staden'' in 1765. They had seven children together - three sons and four daughters. He farmed with his father, ''Hermanus Steyn d'Oude'' at Bruintjiesfontein near Swellendam until 1773, where he soon commanded respect from his neighbours.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Groot trek, veeboere |url=http://www.groottrek.za.cx/veeboere.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080530180419/http://www.groottrek.za.cx/veeboere.htm |archive-date=2008-05-30 }}</ref> His father was elected as part of the home council of Swellendam various times. He was very interested in the Patriot movement at the Cape in the years 1770. In 1773 he moved to the tenant farm De Doornfontein "boven aan de Sondags Rivier onder de Camdeboo" on the then eastern border. In 1789 he returned to Swellendam and settled on the farm Jan Harmansgat. He lived there until he died in 1806. His son Marthinus farmed after him on Jan Harmansgat.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Samilhistory.com - Military History. |url=https://samilhistory.com/tag/african-national-congress/}}</ref> Simon Kick, the famous Dutch Painter, was his 3rd great-grandfather on his mother's side, Hendrik Potgieter, the Voortrekker, was his cousin's son, also on his mother's side and Marthinus Prinsloo, the President of the Republic of Graaff-Reinet<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=FamilySearch |website= FamilySearch|url=https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/L6F8-XQN}}</ref> was his 2nd cousin, also on his mother's side.
{{Multiple image | image1 = Declaration of Swellendam Republic.jpg | caption1 = Declaration of the Republic of Swellendam. | image2 = | caption2 = A drawing of Steyn in 1947. | image3 = Swellendam in 1795.png | caption3 = The Republic of Swellendam in 1795. }}{{Heading|Ancestry}}{{Ahnentafel-tree|Hermanus Steyn d'Jonge|Hermanus Steyn d'Oude|Martha Potgieter|Jacob Steyn|Maria Potgieter|Hans Jurgen Potgieter|Cornelia Botha|Douwe Steyn|Maria Lozee|Harmen Jansz Potgieter|Isabella Fredericks|Harmen Jansz Potgieter (nr. 10)|Isabella Fredericks (nr. 11)|Friedrich Botha|Maria Kickers|Gerben Jacobs|Antje Huigis|Johannes Coon|Maria Van Angola|Jan Hermann Potgieter|Schwenne Van Lodden|28=Micheal Both|29=Susanna Elisabeth Saulus|30=Cornelis Kick|31=Cornelia Spaeroogh|60=Simon Kick|61=Christina Cornelia Duyster}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steyn, Hermanus}} Category:1743 births Category:1804 deaths Category:People from the Dutch Cape Colony Category:People from Swellendam