Jan Smuts and the Old Boers Jan Smuts and the Old Boers Jan Christiaan Smuts, OM (24 May 1870 – 11 September 1950) was a prominent South African and Commonwealth statesman and military leader. He served as a Boer General during the Boer War, a British General during the First World War and was appointed Field Marshal during the Second World War. In addition to various Cabinet appointments, he served as Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1919 to 1924 and from 1939 to 1948. He played a leading part in the post war settlements at the end of both world wars, making
Prime Minister of Australia becomes acting Prime Minister in those circumstances. Three Prime Ministers have died in office – Joseph Lyons (1939), John Curtin (1945) and Harold Holt (1967). In each of these cases, the Deputy Prime Minister (an unofficial office at the time) became an interim Prime Minister, pending an election of a new leader of the government party. In none of these cases was the interim Prime Minister successful at the subsequent election. As of , there are seven living former Australian Prime Ministers. The greatest number of living former Prime Ministers at any one time was eight. This has occurred twice: