Beaufort West - Famous Residents

Famous Residents

• Sir John Fraser LlD, was born in Beaufort West in the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope in 1840. He later studied medicine at Kings College, Aberdeen. In 1871, he was appointed Private Secretary to Joh Brand, President of the Orange Free State. In 1878 he qualified as an Advocate of the Free State Bar and, after serving as Financial Commissioner of the Free State during the Second Boer War, accepted the Honour (sic) of the Knighthood from the British Crown for his reconciliatory role after the conflict.,
• Christiaan Barnard, the pioneering heart surgeon, grew up in Beaufort West. His father, Adam Barnard, was a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church. One of his four brothers, Abraham, died of a heart problem at the age of five. Barnard matriculated from the Beaufort West High School in 1940, and went to study medicine at the University of Cape Town Medical School, where he obtained his MB ChB in 1945. He is commemorated in the local museum.
• Cyril Karabus, MBChB, former Professor of Paediatrics, University of Cape Town (also FRCP, FRCPE)and head of the Oncology and Haemotology Unit of Red Cross Children's Hospital Cape Town
• Sir John Molteno, the first Prime Minister of the Cape. In his youth, this Anglo-Italian immigrant was a farmer and businessman who opened Beaufort West's first bank.
• Elizabeth Maria Molteno, civil and women's rights activist (and the daughter of John Molteno), was born in Beaufort West.
• Cromwell Everson, the classical music composer and composer of the first Afrikaans opera, was born and grew up in Beaufort West. Gained the basis of his music skills under the piano tutelage of Beckie Karabus (whose husband, Isaac Karabus, was one of the first five Ford agents in South Africa), mother of the jurist, Alan Karabus and doctor, Cyril Karabus
• Mandlenkosi, who fought against the apartheid government and was shot whilst feeding his baby boy (Sira). Mandlenkosi Senior Secondary School is named after him.
• Gert Vlok Nel, the pioneering poet, was born (1963) and grew up in Beaufort-Wes.
• Alan Karabus, BA, LlB, BCL, former Professor at the universities of, inter alia, Tulane, McGill, and Bridgeport