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.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario