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Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

“During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have
fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in
harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I
am prepared to die" -- Excerpt from Mandela’s statement from the dock, Rivonia Treason Trial, 1964.

Mandela first joined the African National Congress as a student in 1942, working toward the goal of emancipation from
apartheid. He spent 27 years behind bars before emerging in 1990 and becoming president of the ANC. In 1993, he was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as president of South Africa from 1994-99.

Born in 1918, in the district of Umtata where his family homestead is in rural Qunu, he was
a member of a branch of the Thembu dynasty. He spent his early childhood in the
Transkei. Mandela matriculated at Healdtown Methodist Boarding School and

thereafter attended Fort Hare University College where he became involved in
student politics. It was at Fort Hare that he met Oliver Tambo. They were both

expelled in 1940, for participating in a student strike. Shortly after, he met Walter Sisulu
who assisted him in obtaining articles with a legal firm. Completing a BA degree by correspondence in 1941, he then

studied at the University of the Witwatersrand towards an LLB. In December 1952, Mandela and Oliver
Tambo opened the first black legal partnership in South Africa. Together with Sisulu and
Tambo, Mandela participated in the foundation of the African National Congress Youth

League (ANCYL) in 1944 and in 1948 he served as its national secretary. In December 1952

Mandela and others were arrested and charged under the Suppression of Communism Act.
Mandela was sentenced to prison, nine months of hard labor. Subsequent banning order for nine years, in December
1956 Mandela was one of 156 political activists arrested for and charged with high treason. Four-and-a-half years later,

on 29 March 1961, Justice Rumpff found the accused not guilty. Evading arrest for incitement in 1960, Mandela went
underground, but on 5 August 1962 Mandela was captured near Howick, Natal. He was tried in Pretoria’s Old
Synagogue and in November 1962 sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for incitement and illegally leaving the

country. A massive ‘Release Mandela Campaign’ was launched in 1982, both within South Africa and abroad. Mandela
was released on Sunday 11 February 1990. On 9 May 1994 Mandela was elected
unopposed as President of South Africa in the first session of the National Assembly.
He received numerous awards including Prince of the Asturias Prize for International

Co-operation (Spain 1992), Philadelphia Liberty Medal (USA, 1993);
the Nobel Peace Prize (Norway, 1993); and honorary degrees from over fifty

Universities. After his first term as President, he retired from active political life but continued to help in mediating
conflicts throughout the world. Also called ‘Madiba,’ a nickname taken from his clan, he was married three times, first
to Evelyn Mase, 1944, then Winnie Madikizela, 1958 and
finally Graca Machel, from 1998 until his death in 2013.

Wiinnie was a powerful figure in her own right while

Mandela was imprisoned.

"I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself. I dream of the realization of unity
of Africa whereby its leaders, some of whom are highly competent and experienced, can unite in their efforts to improve and to solve the problems of
Africa." – from a 2000 interview with National Geographic
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