Former South African President and Nobel Peace Prize winner F.W. de Klerk will speak at the Orpheum Theatre, 211 State St., tonight at 7:30 p.m. as part of this year's Distinguished Lecture Series.
In 1993, de Klerk and Nelson Mandela shared the Nobel Peace Prize for their joint efforts in dissolving apartheid, or institutionalized racism, in South Africa.
Elected in 1989 as part of the conservative National Party, de Klerk served as president until 1994. During his presidency he worked to dismount the very political party that granted him such power.
\Many people believed that [de Klerk] would continue to uphold the policies of apartheid,"" said former South African citizen Julian Gorvy, who lived in Johannesburg during de Klerk's term.
However, de Klerk's peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy is precisely what made him famous, according to Gorvy.
""No one really anticipated that he would be as dramatic as he was in releasing Mandela and fast-tracking the proposal of dissolving his government and allowing free and fair elections,"" Gorvy said.
Instead, people around the globe expected a violent revolution in South Africa, according to Gorvy.
""The country was getting quite desperate,"" he said.
Tonight, de Klerk will address both African and international politics in relation to ethnic conflicts.
To facilitate his topics, de Klerk will speak about The F.W. de Klerk Foundation, which works to implement democracy and individual rights globally. The foundation also seeks to analyze the causes of conflicts between groups and to produce solutions that will create and maintain peace worldwide.
Many of the foundation's initiatives focus on Africa in general and specifically on South Africa.
Nevertheless, the broader goals of tonight's speech are applicable to students on this campus, according to DLS committee member and UW-Madison junior Amanda Nelson.
De Klerk is an appropriate speaker because UW-Madison is an activist campus and many students will be affected by his lecture, said DLS director and UW-Madison senior Ann Hanson.
De Klerk's speech will demonstrate ""how localized ethnic conflicts can really affect the entire world,"" Hanson said.
The Chadbourne Residential College, University Housing, the DLS Committee and the University Book Store are sponsoring the event.
Free tickets are available at the Union Theatre Box Office in the Memorial Union. Those without tickets will not be admitted into the theatre until 7:20 p.m.
