Isie Smuts

Sybella (Isie) Margaretha Smuts née Krige, also known as Ouma Smuts, (22 December 1870 — 25 February 1954), was the second First Lady of the Union of South Africa, and a teacher, farmer, charity organiser and scrapbooker. She was raised on a farm in the British Cape Colony and despite aspiring to become a physician, qualified as a teacher in 1891. She taught for six years before marrying Jan Smuts, who later became the second Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa. She was of Dutch descent and a staunch supporter of Afrikaner nationalist aims to break free of British rule. During the Second Boer War (1899–1902), she was moved from Pretoria in the Transvaal Colony and was held under house arrest by the British at Pietermaritzburg in the Colony of Natal. She frequently supplied goods to the inmates of the nearby concentration camp. When the war ended she was active in the Suid-Afrikaanse Vrouefederasie (South African Women's Federation), a social welfare service for war widows and orphans.

Despite her hostility towards the British, Smuts supported her husband's efforts to bring reconciliation to the Dutch and English communities and press for self-governance, which united the former colonies into the Union of South Africa. In 1909, the couple settled on the Doornkloof farm (known in English as The Big House) in Irene township just outside Pretoria. She raised their six surviving children at the farm and during her husband's extended absences on matters of state, she was the primary administrator for its farming activities. In the evenings when the family retired, she clipped articles from media sources written about Jan and organised them into a collection of scrapbooks. During World War I, Smuts wrote frequently to Jan who was working in Britain, informing him of political developments in South Africa. She regularly provided care parcels for wounded soldiers at the hospitals around Pretoria. In 1919 at the end of the war, Jan became Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa. Smuts preferred to remain outside the public sphere and rarely joined him in any official capacity until his second term as prime minister began in 1939. She then became a leader in the Women's United Party, an affiliate of the United Party of South Africa.

During World War II, Smuts became a public figure. She spoke out against fascism and supported the creation of the Women's International Democratic Federation, an organisation aimed at preventing war and furthering women's rights. She participated in radio broadcasts and wrote articles to urge support for the war effort. In 1940, she founded and chaired the Gifts and Comforts Fund, which raised money to provide servicemen with toiletries, sports equipment, and radios. Over the course of the war, the fund raised over a million pounds. She visited soldiers in the camps and hospitals, supervising the delivery of care parcels for them. She also accompanied her husband on troop inspection tours and wrote letters for wounded soldiers. Her war activities made her an icon and she became popularly known as the mother (or Ouma, grandmother) of South Africa. She was awarded an honorary PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1943 and in 1952 the South African Association of University Women created a research scholarship bearing her name. When Smuts died in 1954, her papers and scrapbook collections were donated to the South African State Archives. Microfilm copies of the Smuts Archive, which also includes Jan's records, are housed at the Universities of Cambridge and Cape Town. The Doornkloof farm was purchased in 1960 and a foundation was established to preserve the property. It was designated a National Monument by the Government of South Africa in 1969. A street in Pretoria was named in her honour.