University of Fort Hare Alice Campus, Ring Road, Alice, 5700, South Africa
The University of Fort Hare where Nelson Mandela studied from 1938 to 1940.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1 Jan Smuts Ave, Johannesburg, 2000, South Africa
The University of the Witwatersrand where Nelson Mandela studied from 1943 to 1952.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1 Jan Smuts Ave, Johannesburg, 2000, South Africa
Nelson Mandela on the steps of Wits University.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
Preller St, Muckleneuk, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa
The University of South Africa where Nelson Mandela received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1943 and a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1989.
Career
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1990
Nelson Mandela and president Frederik Willem de Klerk during negotiations between the government and the African National Congress.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1990
London, United Kingdom
African National Congress Leader Nelson Mandela at Wembley with his wife Winnie and African National Congress activist Adelaide Tambo on the occasion of the Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa concert, shortly after his release from prison on April, 16 1990.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1990
Nelson Mandela and his wife Winnie at the welcome home rally after his release from prison after 26 years.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1991
South Africa
Nelson Mandela during his first African National Congress Conference in thirty years.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1993
Store To Illovo, Illovo, Pietermaritzburg, 4145, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa
Nelson Mandela visits Hlengiwe School to encourage students to learn.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1993
Phola Park, Thokoza, South Africa
Nelson Mandela calms Phola Park squatters after attacks on their squatter camps by Inkatha Freedom Party, supporting hostel dwellers.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1994
Durban, South Africa
Nelson Mandela during his presidential election campaign.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1994
Durban, South Africa
Former political prisoner Nelson Mandela campaigns for the presidency of South Africa.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1994
Nelson Mandela of the African National Congress, Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi of the Inkatha Freedom Party and incumbent South African President Frederik Willem de Klerk at a press conference to announce the entry of the Inkatha Freedom Party into the first democratic South African elections, April 1994.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1954
Anti-apartheid activist and lawyer Nelson Mandela in the office of Mandela and Tambo, a law practice set up in Johannesburg by Mandela and Oliver Tambo to provide free or affordable legal representation to blacks.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1990
New York, NY 10017, United States
Nelson Mandela, Deputy President of the African National Congress of South Africa, addresses the Special Committee Against Apartheid in the General Assembly Hall on June 22, 1990.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1991
Nelson Mandela, President of the African National Congress, meets with Secretary-General, Javier Perez de Cuellar, on December 3, 1991.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1994
Robben Island, South Africa
South Africa's first black President Nelson Mandela revisits his prison cell on Robben Island, where he spent eighteen of his twenty-seven years in prison.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1994
Nelson Mandela is sworn in as the first democratically elected President.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1995
Ellis Park, Johannesburg, South Africa
Nelson Mandela gives the William Webb Ellis Cup to Captain Francois Pienaar of South Africa after the Rugby World Cup final between South Africa and New Zealand held on June 24, 1995.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1996
London, United Kingdom
President Nelson Mandela and Queen Elizabeth II ride in a carriage down The Mall at the beginning of his state visit to Britain.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1996
South Africa
President Nelson Mandela celebrates with the South African players after their victory in the African Nations Cup Final against Tunisia in South Africa.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1997
Cape Town, South Africa
President Nelson Mandela and Princess Diana in March 1997.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1990
Breede River DC, South Africa
Nelson Mandela and wife Winnie raising fists upon his release from Victor Verster prison after 27 years.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
2004
Cape Town, South Africa
Nelson Mandela holds the Olympic Flame on Robben Island during Day 9 of the Athens 2004 Olympic Torch Relay on June 12, 2004.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
2004
8115 Vilakazi St, Orlando West, Soweto, 1804, South Africa
Former South African President Nelson Mandela with Oscar-winning Actress Charlize Theron at Mandela House following her Academy Awards success, on March 11, 2004.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
2006
Houghton, Johannesburg, South Africa
Former South African President Nelson Mandela meets with Secretary-General Kofi Annan on March 15, 2006.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
2007
Houghton, Johannesburg, South Africa
Former South Africa President Nelson Mandela poses with South Africa Rugby Union captain John Smit and the Webb-Ellis cup during the Springboks visit to Nelson Mandela at his residence on October 27, 2007.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
2009
Cape Town, South Africa
Nelson Mandela smiles during a lunch to Benefit the Mandela Children's Foundation as part of the celebrations of the opening of the new One&Only Cape Town resort on April 3, 2009.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
2009
534 Wargrave South Road, Henley-on-Klip, Meyerton, 1961, South Africa
Former President Nelson Mandela and Oprah Winfrey at the launch of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls School in Vaal, South Africa.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
2012
8115 Vilakazi St, Orlando West, Soweto, 1804, South Africa
Former South African President Nelson Mandela and former United States President Bill Clinton on the eve of his 94th birthday at his residence on July 17, 2012 in Qunu, South Africa.
Gallery of Nelson Mandela
1622S Kadence street Central Jabavu, Johannesburg, 1809, South Africa
Nelson Mandela visits Morris Isaacson School where the Soweto student riots started in 1976.
Achievements
Membership
Awards
Star of People's Friendship
The Star of People's Friendship that Nelson Mandela received in 1984.
Order of Playa Girón
The Order of Playa Girón that Nelson Mandela received in 1984.
Order of Pakistan
The Order of Pakistan that Nelson Mandela received in 1992.
Order of the Federal Republic
The Order of the Federal Republic that Nelson Mandela received in 1990.
National Order of the Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour that Nelson Mandela received in 1994.
Order of Brilliant Star
The Order of Brilliant Star that Nelson Mandela received in 1993.
Order of the Elephant
The Order of the Elephant that Nelson Mandela received in 1996.
National Order of Mali
The National Order of Mali that Nelson Mandela received in 1996.
Royal Order of the Seraphim
The Royal Order of the Seraphim that Nelson Mandela received in 1997.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada that Nelson Mandela received in 1998.
Order of Isabella the Catholic
The Order of Isabella the Catholic that Nelson Mandela received in 1999.
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom that Nelson Mandela received in 2002.
Order of Mapungubwe
The Order of Mapungubwe that Nelson Mandela received in 2002.
Order of the Aztec Eagle
The Order of the Aztec Eagle that Nelson Mandela received in 2010.
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal that Nelson Mandela received in 2012.
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize that Nelson Mandela received on December 10, 1993.
Lenin Peace Prize
The Lenin Peace Prize that Nelson Mandela received in 1990.
Anti-apartheid activist and lawyer Nelson Mandela in the office of Mandela and Tambo, a law practice set up in Johannesburg by Mandela and Oliver Tambo to provide free or affordable legal representation to blacks.
African National Congress Leader Nelson Mandela at Wembley with his wife Winnie and African National Congress activist Adelaide Tambo on the occasion of the Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa concert, shortly after his release from prison on April, 16 1990.
Nelson Mandela, Deputy President of the African National Congress of South Africa, addresses the Special Committee Against Apartheid in the General Assembly Hall on June 22, 1990.
South Africa's first black President Nelson Mandela revisits his prison cell on Robben Island, where he spent eighteen of his twenty-seven years in prison.
Nelson Mandela of the African National Congress, Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi of the Inkatha Freedom Party and incumbent South African President Frederik Willem de Klerk at a press conference to announce the entry of the Inkatha Freedom Party into the first democratic South African elections, April 1994.
Nelson Mandela gives the William Webb Ellis Cup to Captain Francois Pienaar of South Africa after the Rugby World Cup final between South Africa and New Zealand held on June 24, 1995.
President Nelson Mandela celebrates with the South African players after their victory in the African Nations Cup Final against Tunisia in South Africa.
8115 Vilakazi St, Orlando West, Soweto, 1804, South Africa
Former South African President Nelson Mandela with Oscar-winning Actress Charlize Theron at Mandela House following her Academy Awards success, on March 11, 2004.
Former South Africa President Nelson Mandela poses with South Africa Rugby Union captain John Smit and the Webb-Ellis cup during the Springboks visit to Nelson Mandela at his residence on October 27, 2007.
Nelson Mandela and Supermodel Naomi Campbell at the Press Conference for the 46664 World Aids Day Concert at Gallagher Estate in Gauteng on November 30, 2007.
Nelson Mandela smiles during a lunch to Benefit the Mandela Children's Foundation as part of the celebrations of the opening of the new One&Only Cape Town resort on April 3, 2009.
8115 Vilakazi St, Orlando West, Soweto, 1804, South Africa
Former South African President Nelson Mandela and former United States President Bill Clinton on the eve of his 94th birthday at his residence on July 17, 2012 in Qunu, South Africa.
(This collection of Mandela's speeches, letter and writing...)
This collection of Mandela's speeches, letter and writing vividly illustrates the magnetic attractions of one of the foremost campaigners for freedom the world has known.
(Nelson Mandela's speeches and writings brought together t...)
Nelson Mandela's speeches and writings brought together to mark his 60th birthday. Also included are historical documents and a recent account of conditions on Robben Island.
(Long Walk to Freedom is Mandela's moving and exhilarating...)
Long Walk to Freedom is Mandela's moving and exhilarating autobiography, destined to take its place among the finest memoirs of history's greatest figures. Here for the first time, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela told the extraordinary story of his life – an epic of struggle, setback, renewed hope, and ultimate triumph.
(A collection of some of the oldest African tales, selecte...)
A collection of some of the oldest African tales, selected by Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, which presents such themes as cunning animals, magic spells, and people who change forms.
(An extraordinary visual journey documenting Nelson Mandel...)
An extraordinary visual journey documenting Nelson Mandela's twenty-seven years in prison on Robben Island, Prisoner in the Garden contains previously unpublished images, documents, and diary.
(An intimate journey from the first stirrings of political...)
An intimate journey from the first stirrings of political consciousness to his galvanizing role on the world stage, Conversations with Myself is a rare chance to spend time with Nelson Mandela the man, in his own voice: direct, clear, private.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African politician, anti-apartheid revolutionary, lawyer and philanthropist, who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He also was the founding member of the African National Congress Youth League.
Background
Ethnicity:
Nelson Mandela patrilineal great-grandfather was king of the Thembu people in the Transkeian Territories of South Africa's modern Eastern Cape province.
Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in Mvezo, South Africa. He was a son of Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa and Nosekeni Fanny. His father served as a local chief and councillor to the monarch. He was a polygamist with four wives and thirteen children, including four boys and nine girls.
Nelson Mandela's middle name Rolihlahla means "troublemaker" in Xhosa. In later years he became known by his Thembu clan name, Madiba. His great-grandfather was king of the Thembu people. However, the direct connection with representatives of the ruling dynasty, belonging to the younger branch of the family, did not allow Mandela's descendants to inherit the throne.
Education
When Nelson Mandela was seven his parents sent him to a Methodist school. Two years later, Mandela acquired the first name, Nelson, which was given to him by his teacher. Soon his mother took him to the "Great Place" palace at Mqhekezweni, where he was entrusted to the guardianship of the Thembu regent, Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo. He attended a mission school which was located near the palace. There Mandela studied African history, English, Xhosa, and geography. In 1933 Mandela entered Clarkebury Methodist High School in Engcobo. He completed his Junior Certificate in two years. In 1937, nineteen-year-old Mandela traveled to Healdtown to attend the Methodist College in Fort Beaufort. Mandela finished his courses with such high marks that he was enrolled in the South African Native College at Fort Hare (now the University of Fort Hare) to begin work on his Bachelor of Arts degree. During Mandela's second year at Fort Hare, he reacted to university policies he found objectionable. In 1940, he was expelled for his part in a student boycott.
To continue his higher education, Mandela signed up to a University of South Africa correspondence course in 1942. He completed his Bachelor of Arts in 1943 and began studying for a Bachelor of Laws at the University of the Witwatersrand. By his own admission, he was a poor student and left the university in 1952 without graduating. He only started studying again through the University of London after his imprisonment in 1962 but also did not complete that degree. In 1989, while in the last months of his imprisonment, he obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree through the University of South Africa. He graduated in absentia at a ceremony in Cape Town.
Mandela was the recipient of honorary degrees from more than 50 universities worldwide.
Nelson Mandela became actively involved in the anti-apartheid movement in the 1940s. In 1948 he was appointed National secretary of the African National Congress Youth League and in 1950 Mandela became its president. In his newfound position, Mandela continued his fight against racism. Other than this, he delved into a larger picture which meant working for national liberation. In 1952, he formulated the Defiance Campaign against apartheid with Indian and communist groups. He was subsequently banned for 6 months and later sentenced to 9 months for his leadership of the defiance campaign.
In 1953, Nelson Mandela started working for the firm Terblanche and Briggish, before opening his own law firm in collaboration with Oliver Tambo under the name Mandela and Tambo. The firm was the only African-run law firm and often dealt with cases of police brutality. In 1955, Mandela formed the Congress of the People, with active involvement of the South African Indian Congress, the Coloured People's Congress, the South African Congress of Trade Unions and the Congress of Democrats. He was intermittently banned - severely restricted in travel, association, and speech. However, Mandela still often appeared in public. Following this, on December 5, 1956, Mandela, along with other African National Congress activists, was arrested on grounds of high treason against the state.
Though they were bailed out a fortnight later, the legal proceedings began only on January 9, 1957 in which the judge resolved that there were sufficient reason to put the defendants on Trial. The trial which ended six years later, in 1961. Mandela travelled throughout the country in a disguised avatar and spread the mass stay-at-home strike. He was also involved in organizing the African National Congress's new cell structure Spear of the Nation. Mandela was chosen as a delegate of the African National Congress to the February 1962 Pan-African Freedom Movement for East, Central and Southern Africa meeting. He also went to Algeria for training in guerrilla warfare and sabotage. On August 5, 1962 Mandela was arrested at a road block in Natal and was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison. He was sent to Robben Island Prison, a maximum security prison on a small island near Cape Town, where he spent nearly 18 years of his 27 years sentence. After this, he was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town and later to the Victor Verster Prison near Paarl from where he was released on February 11, 1990.
Nelson Mandela returned to the leadership of the African National Congress. He was appointed President of the African National Congress on July 7, 1991 and held this post until December 20, 1997. In 1994, South Africa held its first democratic elections. The result of the election was in favour of Mandela who went on to become the country's first Black President. During his five-year term, he won extraordinary respect at home and abroad for his advocacy and practice of national reconciliation. After his successful first term, Mandela declined to contest for the second term and retired from active politics. He founded the Mandela Foundation and served as a mediator in the Burundian Civil War. He also spoke out strongly on AIDS, urging both the South African government and the international community to greater commitment. Mandela also wrote a number of books on his life and struggles, among them No Easy Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.
Nelson Mandela was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer in 2001. In June 2004, he announced his formal retirement from public life and returned to his native village of Qunu. He died at his home in Johannesburg on December 5, 2013.
(Nelson Mandela's speeches and writings brought together t...)
1978
Religion
Nelson Mandela was raised in the Methodist denomination of Christianity. The Methodist Church of Southern Africa claimed that he retained his allegiance to them throughout his life. However, the theologian Dion Forster said that Mandela's thought relied to a greater extent on the Southern African concept of Ubuntu than on Christian theology. According to Sampson, Mandela never had "a strong religious faith."
Politics
Nelson Mandela wanted to fight for South Africa's independence. He was influenced very much by the words of Chief Meligqili that they were enslaved in their own country and as their land was controlled by white men, they would never have the power to govern the country themselves. He joined the African National Congress in 1942. In 1944 Mandela and several friends founded a sub-group, the Congress Youth League, and adopted a platform calling for nonviolent protest and black African self-reliance and self-determination.
Mandela helped to coordinate labor strikes and campaigns to defy the unjust laws, including the 1952 Defiance Campaign and the 1955 Congress of the People. In 1960, a demonstration in Sharpeville turned violent when police killed sixty-nine unarmed protesters. After that Mandela abandoned his nonviolent stance and began advocating acts of sabotage against the South African regime. In 1961, Mandela orchestrated a three-day national workers' strike. After that he was arrested and spent 27 years in prison. On February 11, 1990, the South African government under President de Klerk released Mandela from prison and soon Mandela became president of the African National Congress. Mandela led the African National Congress in negotiations with de Klerk to end apartheid and bring about a peaceful transition to nonracial democracy in South Africa. He also asked the American government to continue imposing economic sanctions against South Africa until apartheid is completely dismantled.
In 1994 Nelson Mandela won South Africa's first elections and became president of South Africa. The same year free healthcare was introduced for children under six and pregnant women and in 1996 a provision extended to all those using primary level public sector health care services. The Land Reform Act 3 of 1996 safeguarded the rights of labour tenants living on farms. According to this act labour tenants could not be evicted without a court order or if they were over the age of 65. Mandela also endorsed the trade in weapons but at the same time he brought in tighter regulations surrounding Armscor to ensure that South African weaponry was not sold to authoritarian regimes.
Nelson Mandela's political success was tempered by the ruinous HIV/AIDS epidemic that devastated South Africa at the end of the twentieth century. Mandela and his administration were severely criticized for their ineffectiveness in dealing with the disease that took many lives. Mandela also received criticism for failing to sufficiently combat crime. Further problems were caused by the exodus of thousands of skilled white South Africans from the country. At the same time, South Africa experienced an influx of millions of illegal migrants from poorer parts of Africa.
Mandela identified as both an African nationalist and as a socialist. Some political analysts think that Mandela adopted some of his political ideas from other thinkers - among them Indian independence leaders like Gandhi and Nehru. At the same time he rejected other aspects of their thought, such as the anti-white sentiments. Mandela wanted to achieve change not through violence but through "legal revolution." He was anxious not to inaugurate a race war in South Africa. Mandela also had exhibited a commitment to the values of democracy and human rights. He was an admirer of British-style parliamentary democracy and also spoke of an influential African ethical tenet, Ubuntu, which is a Ngnuni term meaning "A person is a person through other persons." Mandela adhered to ideas about collective leadership, although on the other hand believed that there were scenarios in which a leader had to be decisive and act without consultation to achieve a particular objective.
Views
Quotations:
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
"It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership."
"Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace."
"I hate race discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestations. I have fought it all during my life; I fight it now, and will do so until the end of my days. Even although I now happen to be tried by one whose opinion I hold in high esteem, I detest most violently the set-up that surrounds me here. It makes me feel that I am a black man in a white man's court. This should not be."
"Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the hope that he will rise even in the end."
"I like friends who have independent minds because they tend to make you see problems from all angles."
"I never think of the time I have lost. I just carry out a programme because it's there. It's mapped out for me."
"Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people."
"When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw."
"No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."
"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
"Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do."
Membership
Mandela was the founding member of the African National Congress Youth League.
Personality
Those who knew Nelson Mandela said that he was a private person who often concealed his emotions and confided in very few people. He was typically friendly and welcoming and appeared relaxed in conversation with everyone, including his opponents. Mandela was attentive to all, irrespective of their age or status, and often talked to children or servants. In later life, he always looked for the best in people, even defending political opponents to his allies, who sometimes considered him to be too trusting of others. Mandela was fond of Indian cuisine and had a lifelong interest in archaeology and boxing.
Nelson Mandela gave rise to a new style of dress in South Africa known as "Madiba smart." The style became popular after Mandela traded his business suits for brightly patterned silk shirts, carefully buttoned at the neck and wrists, worn with dress slacks and shoes. Mandela was known to change his clothes several times a day, and he became so associated with highly coloured Batik shirts after assuming the presidency that they came to be known as "Madiba shirts."
Quotes from others about the person
William Saunderson-Meyer: "Mandela was a conciliator and reconciliator, not because he thought it was smart politics or would be a welcome change from the krag dadigheid of his Afrikaner predecessors. His actions were the disarmingly simple outcome of an intricate and nuanced set of personal values."
Barack Obama: "Mandela taught us the power of action, but he also taught us the power of ideas; the importance of reason and arguments; the need to study not only those who you agree with, but also those who you don't agree with. He understood that ideas cannot be contained by prison walls, or extinguished by a sniper's bullet."
Imraan Coovadia: "In the real world there were no freedom fighters like him."
Interests
Archaeology
Sport & Clubs
Box
Connections
Nelson Mandela married Evelyn Ntoko Mase in October 1944. The marriage produced three children. Mandela and Mase divorced in March 1958 because of the multiple strains of his adultery and constant absences, devotion to revolutionary agitation, and the fact that Mase was a Jehovah's Witness, a religion requiring political neutrality.
In June 1958, Mandela married Winnie Madikizela. The marriage produced two daughters. They divorced in March 1996. In July 1998, on his 80th birthday, Nelson Mandela married his third wife, Graça Machel.
Nelson Mandela: "No Easy Walk to Freedom"
From his humble beginnings in rural South Africa to his tragic death at age 95 in 2013, Nelson Mandela's life is a tale of inspiration and courage. The most up-to-date biography of Nelson Mandela.
Nelson Mandela
This stunning picture book biography of Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson is a recipient of the Coretta Scott King Honor award.
2013
Mandela: A Critical Life
Nelson Mandela, the first African politician to acquire a world following, remains in the 21st century an iconic figure. But what are the sources of his almost mythic appeal? And to what extent did Mandela self-consciously create the status of political hero? This new and highly revealing biography examines these questions in detail for the first time.
1989
Mandela: The Authorized Biography
Mandela: The Authorised Biography is a study of Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa, by the late journalist Anthony Sampson. Sampson's book was published in 1999, five years after Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom.
1999
Young Mandela: The Revolutionary Years
In Young Mandela, award-winning journalist and author David James Smith takes his readers deep into the heart of racist South Africa to paint a portrait of the Mandela that many have forgotten: the committed revolutionary who left his family behind to live on the run, adopting false names and disguises and organizing the first strikes to overthrow the apartheid state.