Contact: Kelley Bozeman

Frederik W. de Klerk

The former president of South Africa, will present a lecture at the University of Kentucky at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 27, in the Singletary Center for the Arts Recital Hall. The lecture, sponsored by the UK Student Activities Board, is free and open to the public.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 24, 2003) -- Frederik W. de Klerk, former president of South Africa, will present a lecture at the University of Kentucky at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 27, in the Singletary Center for the Arts Recital Hall. The lecture, sponsored by the UK Student Activities Board, is free and open to the public.

In his first speech after assuming his presidency in 1989, de Klerk called for a non-racist South Africa and for negotiations about the country’s future. He lifted the ban on the African National Congress and released Nelson Mandela from jail. He brought apartheid to an end and opened the way for the drafting of a new constitution for the country based on the principle of one person, one vote. Together with Mandela, de Klerk received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

de Klerk published his autobiography, “The Last Trek – a New Beginning,” in 1999 and has established the F. W. de Klerk Foundation to work for peace in societies that are divided on cultural, ethnic, religious and linguistic lines.