Early Life
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on July 18, 1918 in Transkei, South Africa to Chief Henry Mandela of Thembu Tribe. Mandela’s patrilineal great grandfather was the king of Thembu people but it was his mother that was of this Ixhiba clan and this only made him Inkosi’s child. As to this he was not entitled to succeed the Thembu throne. Mandela’s father died of tuberculosis when he (Mandela) was barely nine years of age, and Mandela’s upbringing was passed onto a regent named Jonigintaba.
At age 16 Mandela was initiated and attended the Clarkebury Boarding Institute; there, a program to be run for three years he completed in two years. This African legend then proceeded to Healdtown and attended the Wesleyan College in Fort Beaufort. At 19 Mandela was interested in running and boxing. In 1942 he became qualified in Law at the University of Witwatersand.
Political Life
In 1944 Mandela joined African National Congress (ANC) and was of the campaign against the National Party’s apartheid policies. In 1956 he was accused of treason and was on trial till 1961 when he received acquittal. Not relenting on his goal, he championed the campaign for the military wing of the ANC which led to the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe.
For his unrelenting role towards emancipation, Mandela was arrested and sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment in 1962. Following this he was made to stand trial with some fellow leaders of ANC and the Umkhonto we Sizwe for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government by violence. This trial continued till June 12, 1964, when eight of the accused and Mandela were sentenced to life imprisonment. Mandela served his imprisonment partly at Robben Island Prison, off Cape Town and at Polismoor Prison, on the mainland.
Man of focus and determination, on his release on February 11, 1990, with no ado he plunged himself back into the goal he had set out decades ago. And at the first national conference of ANC held in South Africa in 1991after Mandela’s release, he (Mandela) was elected President of the ANC.
On April 27 of 1994, the first multi-racial elections were held in the country of South Africa and the ANC won 62% of the votes. Since Mandela was the leader of the ANC he became the first black president of South Africa on May 10, 1994 till June of 1999.
Family Life
Nelson Mandela has been married three times. First, to Evelyn Ntoko Mase, but broke up after 13 years of marriage in 1957. They had 2 sons, Madiba Thembekile and Makgatho Mandela and 2 daughters, both Makaziwe together. He (Mandela) married for the second time to Winne Madikizela-Mandela, the first black social worker in Johannesburg. Together they had 2 daughters; Zenani and Zindziswa. Their Marriage ended with a divorce in March of 1996. His third Marriage was at his 80th birthday and was to Graca Machel, the widow of former Mozambican President Samora Machel.
Other Facts
In July 2001, Nelson was diagnosed with prostate cancer and was treated for it. In 2004; when he was 85 years, he declared he would not be involved in political life any more. That he wanted to spend his final years with his family.
Today he has a Foundation to his name – Nelson Mandela Foundation which contributes to the making of a just society by promoting the values, vision and work of the founder.
For his work, he had received more than 250 awards, and the most notable of these awards is the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize award.
On June 20, 2011, First Lady Michelle Obama and her family paid their respect to Nelson Mandela at South Africa.
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