Pretorius, Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus [key], 1799–1853, Boer (Afrikaner) leader. He was elected (1838) commandant general of the Boers of Natal and in that year defeated a large force of Zulus at Blood River. This victory made possible the organization of a Boer Republic of Natal (see KwaZulu-Natal). In 1848, Pretorius led a party of Boers across the Drakensberg Range and created there the nucleus of the South African Republic (the Transvaal). The city of Pretoria was named in his honor.
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