| Intro | South African civil servant and diplomat, lawyer, historian |
| Was |
Lawyer Historian |
| From |
South Africa Netherlands |
| Type |
Law Social science |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 1 May 1859, Magelang, Central Java Province, Indonesia |
| Death |
14 May 1940, The Hague, South Holland, Netherlands, Kingdom of the Netherlands (aged 81 years) |
Willem Johannes Leyds (Magelang, Dutch East Indies, 1 May 1859 – The Hague, Netherlands, 14 May 1940) was a Dutch lawyer and statesman, who made a career as State Attorney (1884-1889) and State Secretary (1889-1898) of the South African Republic. From 1898 to 1902, during the crucial period of the South African War, he was the Republic’s Special Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary in Brussels, accredited to several European states.
The former gold rush town of Leydsdorp was named after him.