Nelson Mandela

NELSON MANDELA

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (July 18, 1918 - December 5, 2013) was a revolutionary leader, political leader and anti-apartheid philanthropist of South Africa, who served as president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the first black head of state in the country and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by addressing institutionalized racism and promoting racial reconciliation. Ideologically nationalist and African socialist, he served as president of the African National Congress Party (ANC) from 1991 to 1997. To Xhosa, Mandela was born in Mvezo in the Thembu royal family. He studied law at the University of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand before working as a lawyer in Johannesburg.

Mandela was repeatedly arrested for seditious activities and tried unsuccessfully in the 1956 trial for treason. In 1962, he was arrested for conspiring to overthrow the state and sentenced to life imprisonment at the Rivonia Trial. Mandela served 27 years in prison. In the midst of mounting national and international pressure and fear of a racial civil war, President FW de Klerk freed him in 1990.

Mandela was a controversial figure for much of his life. Although critics of the right denounced him as a communist terrorist and those of the radical left considered him too eager to negotiate and reconcile with the supporters of apartheid, he gained international recognition for his activism. Considered an icon of democracy and social justice, he received more than 250 honors, including the Nobel Peace Prize.