Harry Schwarz

His Excellency Harry Schwarz
South African Ambassador to the United States
In office 6 March 1991 – 12 January 1995
President	F. W. de Klerk Nelson Mandela
Preceded by	Piet Koornhof
Succeeded by	Franklin Sonn
Shadow Minister of Finance
In office 30 November 1977 – 5 May 1987
Preceded by	John Jaminan
Succeeded by	Jan van Zyl
Shadow Minister of Defence
In office 1977–1984
Preceded by	Vause Raw
Succeeded by	Roger Hulley
Leader of the Opposition in the Transvaal
In office 1963–1974
Succeeded by	Alf Widman
Member of the House of Assembly for Yeoville
In office 24 April 1974 – 6 February 1991
Succeeded by	Douglas Gibson
Member of the Transvaal Provincial Council for Hillbrow
In office 1958–1974
Personal details
Born	Harry Heinz Schwarz (1924-05-13)13 May 1924 Cologne, Germany
Died	5 February 2010(2010-02-05) (aged 85) Johannesburg, South Africa
Political party	United Party Reform Party Progressive Reform Party Progressive Federal Party Democratic Party
Spouse	Annette Louise Schwarz (m. 1952)
Children	Jonathan Allan Michael
Alma mater	University of the Witwatersrand
Profession	Lawyer
Military service
Allegiance	South Africa
Branch/service	South African Air Force
Years of service	1943-1945
Rank	navigator
Unit	15 Squadron
Battles/wars	North Africa Crete Italy

Harry Heinz Schwarz (13 May 1924 – 5 February 2010) was a South African lawyer, statesman and long-time political opposition leader against apartheid in South Africa, who eventually served as the South African Ambassador to the United States during the country's transition to majority rule.

Schwarz rose from the childhood poverty he experienced as a German-Jewish refugee to become a lawyer and a member of the Transvaal Provincial Council, where from 1963 to 1974, he was Leader of the Opposition. In the 1964 Rivonia Trial he was a defence lawyer. Advocating a more aggressive political opposition to the National Party's racial policies in the 1960s and 1970s, as Leader of the United Party in Transvaal and leader of the liberal "Young Turks", he clashed with the United Party establishment. He pioneered the call in white politics for a negotiated end to apartheid and in 1974 signed the Mahlabatini Declaration of Faith with Mangosuthu Buthelezi for a non-racial democratic society in South Africa. He was in the opposition for over 40 years and was a founding member of the Democratic Party. In light of his record, his appointment as South African Ambassador to the United States in 1990 was widely heralded as symbolic of the government's commitment to ending apartheid,^[1] and played a significant role in renewing the nation's image as the new democratic South Africa.^[2][3][4]

As a South African Air Force World War II veteran during the 1950s, Schwarz co-founded the Torch Commando, an ex-soldiers' movement to protest against the disenfranchisement of coloured people in South Africa. Described as South Africa's "most feisty politician" and a political "maverick",^[5] he was known for his parliamentary clashes with the apartheid government over its racial and economic policies. In his political career spanning 43 years, in which he gained respect from across the political spectrum, he never lost an election.^[6] In 1988 he received the Order for Meritorious Service and received several Honorary Doctorates. He was also one of the South African Jewish community's foremost leaders and spoke out strongly against anti-semitism.^[7]

Schwarz was described by the University of Stellenbosch as "one of the conceptual and moral fathers of the new South Africa"^[8] in the sense that he had not only been one of apartheid's most prominent opponents, but his ideas and the initiatives he had taken had played a key role in the development of the concept of a negotiated democracy in South Africa, based on the principles of freedom and justice. Nelson Mandela, a friend of his whom he visited while in prison, described him as a "champion of the poor".^[6]