The President of the Orange Free State Republic, Martinus Theunis Steyn was born on 2 October 1857 on a farm in the Winburg district of the Free State.
He studied law in London and, having qualified, returned to South Africa to practice his trade.
He entered politics at an early age and became the sixth President of the Free State in 1896.
He was regarded as one of the most irreconcilable of the Boer leaders during the South African War (1899-1902).
Ill health prevented him from being at the signing the Peace Treaty of Vereeniging.
