23 Facts About Colin Eglin

Colin Eglin was born in on 14 April 1925 in Sea Point, Cape Town, the son of Carl August Colin Eglin and his wife, Elsie May Wells.

Colin Eglin had just turned nine when his father died in July 1934.

Colin Eglin later wrote, "Colin Eglin had been ill for a long time, but had been strengthened by a deep and abiding Christian faith - and by the love and care of his wife".

Colin Eglin interrupted his studies in 1943 during World War II to join the South African Army.

Colin Eglin became a full-time instructor in the anti-aircraft unit in Cape Town.

Colin Eglin was then sent to a similar unit in the Kingdom of Egypt and transferred to Italy.

Colin Eglin took part in the South African assault on Monte Sole, after which the Allies broke through to the plains of Italy.

Colin Eglin graduated from the University of Cape Town with a BSc degree in quantity surveying in 1946.

Colin Eglin was a member of Pinelands Municipal Council from 1951 to 1954.

Colin Eglin was elected as a United Party Cape Province Provincial Councillor in 1954 and served until 1958.

Colin Eglin was elected unopposed as MP for the Peninsula constituency in 1958.

Colin Eglin left the United Party to become a founder member of the Progressive Party in 1959, losing his seat in the 1961 general election.

Colin Eglin became the leader of the Progressive Party in February 1971.

Colin Eglin was at first outside Parliament, but he was elected for the Cape Town seat of Sea Point in the April 1974 General Election, when five other PP candidates joined Helen Suzman in Parliament.

Colin Eglin was elected leader after Schwarz agreed not to stand for the leadership and was appointed Chairman of the National Executive.

Colin Eglin became leader of the Progressive Federal Party in 1977, following a merger with the Committee for United Opposition that had broken away from the United Party.

Colin Eglin was replaced as leader by Frederik van Zyl Slabbert in 1979, when Eglin became Shadow Foreign Minister, a post he would hold until 1986.

Colin Eglin was official Opposition leader until 1987, when the right-wing Conservative Party became the official opposition party.

Colin Eglin continued to serve in the segregated House of Assembly until it was abolished in 1994 and then in the multi-racial National Assembly in the Parliament of South Africa until he retired in 2004.

Colin Eglin was made an Officer of the Order of the Disa in 2005.

Colin Eglin was awarded the Order of the Baobab, Category II, in April 2013.

Colin Eglin died on 29 November 2013 due to cardiac arrest at the age of 88.

Colin Eglin wrote an autobiography titled Crossing the Borders of Power.