Nelson Mandela is one of the world's most
revered statesmen, who led the struggle to replace the apartheid regime
of South Africa with a multi-racial democracy.
Jailed for 27 years, he emerged to become the country's first
black president and to play a leading role in the drive for peace in
other spheres of conflict. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. His charisma, self-deprecating sense of humour and lack of
bitterness over his harsh treatment, as well as his amazing life story,
partly explain his extraordinary global appeal.
"In prison, you come face to face with time. There is nothing more terrifying"
Nelson Mandela
Since stepping down as president
in 1999, Mr Mandela has become South Africa's highest-profile
ambassador, campaigning against HIV/Aids and helping to secure his
country's right to host the 2010 football World Cup. Mr Mandela - diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2001 - was
also involved in peace negotiations in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Burundi and other countries in Africa and elsewhere.
In 2004, at the age of 85, Mr Mandela retired from public
life to spend more time with his family and friends and engage in "quiet
reflection". "Don't call me, I'll call you," he warned anyone thinking of inviting him to future engagements. The former president had made few public appearances since largely retiring from public life.
In November 2010, his office released photos of a meeting he had held with members of the US and South African football teams.
In late January 2011 he was admitted to a Johannesburg
hospital for a "specialised tests" with the South African presidency
reminding a concerned nation that Mr Mandela has had "previous
respiratory infections". He was admitted to hospital again in February 2012 for what
the president's office said was "a long-standing abdominal complaint".
Raised by royalty
He was born in 1918 into the Xhosa-speaking Thembu people in a
small village in the eastern Cape of South Africa. In South Africa, he
is often called by his clan name - "Madiba".
Born Rolihlahla Dalibhunga, he was given his English name, Nelson, by a teacher at his school.
His father, a counsellor to the Thembu royal family, died
when Nelson Mandela was nine, and he was placed in the care of the
acting regent of the Thembu people, chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo.
He joined the African National Congress in 1944, first as an
activist, then as the founder and president of the ANC Youth League.
Eventually, after years in prison, he also served as its president.
He married his first wife, Evelyn Mase, in 1944. They were divorced
in 1958 after having four children. Mr Mandela qualified as a lawyer and
in 1952 opened a law practice in Johannesburg with his partner, Oliver
Tambo.
Mr Mandela set up South Africa's first black law firm with Oliver Tambo
Mandela's key dates
- 1918 - Born in the Eastern Cape
- 1944 - Joined African National Congress
- 1956 - Charged with high treason, but charges dropped
- 1962 - Arrested, convicted of sabotage, sentenced to five years in prison
- 1964 - Charged again, sentenced to life
- 1990 - Freed from prison
- 1993 - Wins Nobel Peace Prize
- 1994 - Elected first black president
- 1999 - Steps down as leader
- 2001 - Diagnosed with prostate cancer
- 2004 - Retires from public life
- 2005 - Announces his son has died of an HIV/Aids-related illness
- 2007 - Forms The Elders group
- 2010 - Appears at closing ceremony of World Cup
Together, Mr Mandela and Mr Tambo
campaigned against apartheid, the system devised by the all-white
National Party which oppressed the black majority.
In 1956, Mr Mandela was charged with high treason, along with
155 other activists, but the charges against him were dropped after a
four-year trial. Resistance to apartheid grew, mainly against the new Pass Laws, which dictated where black people were allowed to live and work.
In 1958, Mr Mandela married Winnie Madikizela, who was later
to take an active role in the campaign to free her husband from prison. The ANC was outlawed in 1960 and Mr Mandela went underground. Tension with the apartheid regime grew, and soared to new
heights in 1960 when 69 black people were shot dead by police in the
Sharpeville massacre.
This marked the end of peaceful resistance and Mr Mandela,
already national vice-president of the ANC, launched a campaign of
economic sabotage.
"Only free men can negotiate. Prisoners cannot enter into contracts"
Nelson Mandela
He was eventually arrested and charged with sabotage and attempting to violently overthrow the government. Conducting his own defence in the Rivonia court room, Mr
Mandela used the stand to convey his beliefs about democracy, freedom
and equality.
"I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society
in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal
opportunities," he said. "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."
In the winter of 1964 he was sentenced to life in prison. In the space of 12 months between 1968 and 1969, Mr Mandela's
mother died and his eldest son was killed in a car crash but he was not
allowed to attend the funerals.
He remained in prison on Robben Island for 18 years before being
transferred to Pollsmoor Prison on the mainland in 1982. As Mr Mandela
and other ANC leaders languished in prison or
lived in exile, the youths of South Africa's black townships did their
best to fight white minority rule. Hundreds were killed and thousands
were injured before the schoolchildren's uprising was crushed.
In 1980, Mr Tambo, who was in exile, launched an international campaign to release Mr Mandela.
The world community tightened the sanctions first imposed on South
Africa in 1967 against the apartheid regime. The pressure produced
results, and in 1990, President FW de
Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC, and Mr Mandela was released from prison
and talks on forming a new multi-racial democracy for South Africa
began.
Huge crowds greeted Nelson Mandela's release
Slum townships
In 1992, Mr Mandela divorced his wife, Winnie, after she was convicted on charges of kidnapping and accessory to assault. In December 1993, Mr Mandela and Mr de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Five months later, for the first time in South Africa's
history, all races voted in democratic elections and Mr Mandela was
overwhelmingly elected president. Mr Mandela's greatest problem as president was the housing
shortage for the poor, and slum townships continued to blight major
cities.
He entrusted his deputy, Thabo Mbeki, with the day-to-day
business of the government, while he concentrated on the ceremonial
duties of a leader, building a new international image of South Africa.
In that context, he succeeded in persuading the country's multinational
corporations to remain and invest in South Africa.
He married Graca Machel on his 80th birthday
On his 80th birthday, Nelson Mandela married Graca Machel, the widow of the former president of Mozambique. He continued travelling the world, meeting leaders, attending
conferences and collecting awards after stepping down as president. After his official retirement, his public appearances were
mostly connected with the work of the Mandela Foundation, a charitable
fund that he founded.
On his 89th birthday, he formed
The Elders, a group of
leading world figures, to offer their expertise and guidance "to tackle
some of the world's toughest problems".
Possibly his most noteworthy intervention of recent years
came early in 2005, following the death of his surviving son, Makgatho. At a time when taboos still surrounded the Aids epidemic, Mr
Mandela announced that his son had died of Aids, and urged South
Africans to talk about Aids " to make it appear like a normal illness". He also played a key role in the decision to let South Africa
host the 2010 football World Cup and appeared at the closing ceremony.
Source: BBC News
