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Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon GIE, Stefanus Francois Naude (Dr) Born: 1884 07 13 Died: 1945 04 10 Educator : Diplomat Born in Worcester. He was educated at the Boys High School in Worcester, studied at Victoria College in Stellenbosch, at the University of Amsterdam and at the Humboldt University of Berlin. From 1906 to 1909 he was employed as a teacher in Cradock and Worcester, 1910-1911 he was inspector of schools. He was also rector of the University of Stellenbosch. From 1926-1934 he served as Minister of Education in the Union of South Africa. He thereafter served as the South African envoy to Berlin. His views on the future of the Free City of Danzig and a German corridor were very similar to those of the government of Adolf Hitler at that time. Before the Second World War he was posted to The Hague. From 1939 to 1944 he was based in Stockholm and after March 13, 1944, he was the South African Ambassador to Washington, where he died. [See German Wikipedia] At the time of the passing of the Architects Act (1927) Gie was Minister of Education in the Union of South Africa. PEARSE recalls: [see NOTES ON THE SITE AND BUILDINGS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND, [Click here to read them]. ...a Bill was passed by Parliament in June 1927 and became known as the Architects and Quantity Surveyors (Private) Act, No. 18 of 1927. Under the Act a Board of Education was set up. At its first meeting Dr Gie, Secretary for Education was present to discuss the educational requirements of the Institute and particularly the entrance qualifications of students. When I proposed that the Matriculation examination should be accepted this was opposed by Mr HOWDEN, President in Chief of the Institute of South African Architects and Mr MOORE, the Vice President, who did not think this was necessary. I was amused when Dr Gie folded up his papers and said that under the circumstances the training of architects could be undertaken by the Technical Colleges. This was a shock to the opposition who finally agreed that all architectural education should be undertaken by the Universities and that the Matriculation examination should be the entrance qualification. Up to this time I had been giving courses for quantity surveying students and when the Act came into being I was asked to introduce a Diploma in Quantity Surveying. This led to a full time course for a Diploma and eventually to a Degree course B.Sc. (Q.S.). In 1930 GIE was made an Honorary Member of the Institute of South African Architects (ISAA). (ISAA mem list; ISAA Ybk 1930-1) All truncated references not fully cited in 'References' are those of Joanna Walker's original text and cited in full in the 'Bibliography' entry of the Lexicon.