| dbo:abstract |
Janet Duvenage Smith, CLM (née Watt; 1915 – 3 December 1994), was the wife of Ian Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 1964 to 1979. Born in Cape Town, South Africa, she studied history at the University of Cape Town and became a teacher. In 1942, she married , a rugby player, and had two children. He died in an accident on the rugby field in 1947. The next year, a short visit with family in Southern Rhodesia became permanent when she accepted a teaching job in Selukwe. There, she met her future husband, Ian Smith, who had recently come home from the Second World War. In 1948, the couple got married and bought a farm, and Ian was elected to the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly. In 1964, when Ian Smith became Prime Minister of Rhodesia, the family moved to the premier's residence in Salisbury. Smith split her time between state functions and managing the farm back in Selukwe. After Zimbabwean independence from the United Kingdom, her husband was defeated at the 1980 election, but remained in the Parliament of Zimbabwe until 1987. Smith continued to divide her time between Harare and the farm until her death from cancer in 1994. (en) |
| rdfs:comment |
Janet Duvenage Smith, CLM (née Watt; 1915 – 3 December 1994), was the wife of Ian Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 1964 to 1979. Born in Cape Town, South Africa, she studied history at the University of Cape Town and became a teacher. In 1942, she married , a rugby player, and had two children. He died in an accident on the rugby field in 1947. The next year, a short visit with family in Southern Rhodesia became permanent when she accepted a teaching job in Selukwe. There, she met her future husband, Ian Smith, who had recently come home from the Second World War. In 1948, the couple got married and bought a farm, and Ian was elected to the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly. (en) |
