Hendrik Verwoerd is generally considered the architect of apartheid. He was the Prime Minister of South Africa from 1958 to 1966 and a key figure in the National Party, which came to power in 1948 and implemented the policy of apartheid. Verwoerd believed in the separate development of different racial groups and advocated for the creation of separate Bantustans, or homelands, for black South Africans. He also introduced a number of laws and policies that restricted the rights of black South Africans, including the Population Registration Act, the Group Areas Act, and the Bantu Education Act.