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Nelson
Mandela
spent his life as an activist against
apartheid and, after spending 27 years
in prison under accusations of governmental
sabbotage from his actions with the African
National Congress (ANC) and the Umkhonto
we Sizwe, Mandela surfaced as a leader
of the anti-apartheid movement. He won
the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his
work with the movement and played a leading
role in ending apartheid a year later,
becoming South Africa's first president
under the new multi-racial democracy.
Nelson
Rolihlahla Mandela was born on July 18,
1918 in the village of Mvezo in Transkei,
South Africa to Chief Henry Mandela of
the Tembu Tribe. Although he was a descendent
of African royalty, Mandela's family branch
could not inherit any throne due to the
colonial rule at the time as well as complicated
family lineage. Instead, Mandela was supposed
to inherit his father's rule as Chief
after his death in 1928.
Mandela,
however, had different plans. He began
attending school at the age of seven,
the first in his family of 13 brothers
and sisters to focus on academics. The
name of "Nelson" was given to
him by his Methodist teacher who found
Rolihlahla difficult to pronounce. After
his father's death in 1928, the local
Regent became his legal guardian and Mandela
attended a mission school near the Regent's
palace.
After
studying at Clarkebury Boarding Institute,
Mandela studied at the Wesleyan college
in Fort Beaufort and eventually studied
for his B.A. at Fort Hare University.
While studying at the university, Mandela
befriended Oliver Tambo, a man who would
become a very close lifelong friend. He
never finished his studies at Fort Beaufort
due to his involvement in a boycott by
the Students' Representative Council for
which the university asked him to leave.
After
discovering that the Reagent had arranged
a marriage for him, Mandela fled to Johannesburg
where he ended up as a clerk at a law
firm. During his time with the firm he
completed his B.A. via correspondence
with the University of South Africa. He
then began studying law at the University
of Witwatersrand.
The
apartheid-driven National Party won the
1948 election and drove Mandela to join
the ANC Defiance Campaign of 1952 and
the 1955 Congress of the People, both
of which supported the anti-apartheid
cause. He also opened the Mandela and
Tambo firm with his friend and helped
under-represented black South Africans
to obtain legal representation.
Mandela
was arrested for treason on December 5,
1956 after taking part in a non-violent
protest and was eventually acquitted.
Due
to increasing conflict between political
sections of South Africa, Mandela helped
open the armed wing of the ANC, the Umkhonto
we Sizwe. Although he believed in peaceful
protests and the work of Gandhi, Mandela
also recognized that their non-violent
actions were being fought with violent
means, a tactic that was only increasing
in danger. He helped arrange a sabotage
of targets of the current government in
order to end apartheid.
Mandela
ended up running from the government for
seventeen months during which time he
visited other governments in hopes of
raising awareness for the fight against
apartheid in South Africa. He was caught
on August 5, 1962 due to information given
to the South African government by the
CIA and sentenced to five years for illegally
leaving the country. Two years into his
imprisonment, Mandela, along with other
ANC leaders, were sentenced to life in
prison for attempting sabotage and treason
in previous years.
Mandela
spent the next eighteen years on Robben
Island, a prison island off the coast
of South Africa near Cape Town. During
his time there, Mandela was forced into
hard labor at a lime quarry as part of
his classification as a political prisoner.
He received very little contact with the
outside world, but still managed to gain
support and respect within the confines
of the prison. His reputation grew throughout
the country and the world with attempted
rescues on his behalf.
While
in prison, Mandela studied law via correspondence
with the University of London and received
a Bachelor of Laws degree.
In
1982, Mandela was moved to Pollsmoor Prison
with other political prisoners in order
to further seclude him from influencing
both the prison population and other outsiders.
During this time, President P.W. Botha
offered Mandela freedom in exchange for
giving up the struggle against apartheid.
Mandela refused, remaining in prison to
continue his fight against the oppressive
government.
When
P.W. Botha fell ill, his replacement,
Frederik Willem de Klerk, released Mandela
in February of 1990, the same month in
which he reversed the ban against the
ANC and other organizations that supported
the anti-apartheid cause. After his release,
Mandela took his position as ANC leader
and began negotiations with the exiting
ruling party.
His
talks with Klerk and his advocacy of non-violent
rule won Mandela the Nobel Peace Prize
in 1993. One year later, South Africa
held its first democratic elections for
all citizens and the ANC won 62% of the
votes. Mandela was inaugurated as President
on May 10, 1994, South Africa's first
black President. Klerk served as his first
deputy.
Nelson
Mandela served as president of South Africa
until 1995, helping to unite the socially
segregated racial groups within the country.
He has been married three times, has six
children and twenty grandchildren.
This Nelson Mandela biography may
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