Maritz, Salomon Gerhardus

Salomon Gerhardus Maritz, also called Gerrit Maritz, (born 1876, Kimberley, Griqualand West [now in South Africa]—died Dec. 19, 1940, Pretoria, S.Af.), general and rebel who was an ardent believer in the Boer nationalist cause in South Africa. He fought against the British in the South African War (Boer War; 1899–1902) and led a rebellion against British rule during World War I.

During the Boer War, Maritz carried out a daring raid on the British Cape Colony, shortly before the Boer surrender in 1902. In 1914 he was commander of South African troops on the border of German South West Africa. When World War I began Maritz defected to the German side with his troops and precipitated a general rebellion of Boer troops throughout South Africa. When the rebellion was put down in 1915, he fled to Europe but returned to South Africa in 1923. In the 1930s he established an anti-Semitic, pro-fascist movement in South Africa.