Born Oct. 10, 1825, in Colesberg; died July 14, 1904, in Clarens, Switzerland. Political figure of the Boer republic of the Transvaal.

Kruger was a leader in Boer military operations against the native African population, which resulted in the seizure of their lands. In the Boer rebellion in 1880 against the British colonialists, who had declared the annexation of the Transvaal in 1877, he was a member of the triumvirate that headed the rebellion. Kruger was president of the Transvaal from 1883 to 1902. In the Boer War of 1899–1902, after the fall of Transvaal’s capital, Pretoria, in June 1900, Kruger went to Europe and endeavored in vain to induce the governments of the European powers to intervene in defense of the Boers. He spent his last years in Switzerland.