English Compositions

Short Essay on Nelson Mandela [100, 200, 400 Words] With PDF

Nelson Mandela was a political leader and a former president of South Africa. For his contribution to restoring peace and stability in the region, he is still remembered around the world. In today’s session, you will learn about the life of Nelson Mandela in order to write an essay on this eminent person for your upcoming exam.

Table of Contents

  • Short Essay on Nelson Mandela in 100 Words 
  • Short Essay on Nelson Mandela in 200 Words 
  • Short Essay on Nelson Mandela in 400 Words 

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Short Essay on Nelson Mandela in 100 Words

Nelson Mandela was one of the greatest leaders and freedom fighters of South Africa. He was born on 18th July 1918. He studied law and became a successful lawyer. While practising law, he got involved in anti-apartheid, anti-colonial, nationalist movements and soon joined the African National Congress.

South Africa, at that time, was ruled by a white-only government and blacks were discriminated against in their own country. Mandela, along with other revolutionaries, fought against the oppressive rule. Because of their efforts, the white supremacist government was finally overthrown and Nelson Mandela became the first president of a multi-racial democratic South Africa in 1994. He was also the country’s first black president. He died on 5th December 2013, aged 95. He will always be remembered as an icon of democracy and social justice.

Short Essay on Nelson Mandela in 200 Words

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African revolutionary leader and freedom fighter who played an important role in ending apartheid in the country. He was born on 18th July 1918 in a village called Mzevo into the Thembu royal family. Although his family was illiterate, he was sent to study in a local school by his mother.

He later studied law and started working as a lawyer in Johannesburg. While he was still studying, he faced racism and saw the terrible political state of his country. Soon, he started getting involved in anti-apartheid, anti-colonial, nationalist movements and joined the African National Congress. 

South Africa, at that time, was ruled by a whites-only government, and blacks were discriminated against in their own country. Mandela, along with other revolutionaries, fought against the oppressive rule and was repeatedly arrested and imprisoned. However, even after spending a total of 27 years in jail, Mandela did not give up and continued with his efforts to end apartheid in the country. 

Finally, after decades of struggle, South Africa rose as a multi-racial democratic country and Nelson Mandela became its first president in 1994. He was also the country’s first-ever black president. He was an advocate of human rights and brought peace and stability to his country. Nelson Mandela was one of the greatest leaders in the world and he will always be remembered as an icon of democracy and social justice. 

Short Essay on Nelson Mandela in 400 Words

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was one of the most important leaders in the history of South Africa as well as the world. He was born on 18th July 1918 in a village called Mzevo into the Thembu royal family. Although his family was illiterate, he was sent to study in a local school by his mother.

He later studied law and started working as a lawyer in Johannesburg. While he was still studying, he came face-to-face with racism and saw the terrible political state of his country. Soon, he started getting involved in anti-apartheid, anti-colonial, nationalist movements and joined the African National Congress. 

South Africa, at that time, was ruled by a whites-only government, and blacks were discriminated against in their own country. Mandela, along with other revolutionaries like Anton Lembede and Oliver Tambo, fought against the oppressive rule and was repeatedly arrested and imprisoned.

However, even after spending a total of 27 years in jail, Mandela did not give up and continued with his efforts to end apartheid in the country. He led defiance campaigns against the government as well as the mass stay-at-home strikes. He also joined hands with anti-apartheid leaders around the world and trained in guerilla warfare. 

Nelson Mandela and his fellow leaders worked hard to end apartheid and bring justice to the millions of black Africans who had been suffering under the white supremacist government. After decades of struggle for freedom and equality, South Africa rose as a multi-racial democratic country in 1994, with the first fully democratic elections held on 27th April 1994.

The African National Congress, under the leadership of Mandela, won the elections by a huge margin and Nelson was sworn as the first president of a democratic South Africa. He held office till 1999 and was focused on national unity and reconciliation. 

Nelson Mandela’s government worked a lot for the betterment of society, granting old-age pensions, free healthcare for young children and pregnant women, building houses, providing electricity and connectivity as well as making proper education available for kids. Even after retiring from the political scene, he continued to work towards rural development, school construction and combating HIV/AIDS. He died on 5th December 2013 after suffering from a respiratory infection. 

Nelson Mandela was an advocate of human rights and brought peace and stability to his country. He was one of the greatest leaders in the world and he will always be remembered as an icon of democracy and social justice. 

That’s all about my presentation on the life of Nelson Mandela. Hopefully, this session has become able to fulfil your requirement.  If you have any doubts regarding this session, kindly let me know through the comment section below. 

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Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela was the first Black president of South Africa, elected after time in prison for his anti-apartheid work. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

nelson mandela

(1918-2013)

Who Was Nelson Mandela?

Beginning in 1962, Mandela spent 27 years in prison for political offenses. In 1993, Mandela and South African President F.W. de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to dismantle the country's apartheid system. For generations to come, Mandela will be a source of inspiration for civil rights activists worldwide.

Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in the tiny village of Mvezo, on the banks of the Mbashe River in Transkei, South Africa.

His birth name was Rolihlahla Mandela. "Rolihlahla" in the Xhosa language literally means "pulling the branch of a tree," but more commonly translates as "troublemaker."

Mandela's father, who was destined to be a chief, served as a counselor to tribal chiefs for several years but lost both his title and fortune over a dispute with the local colonial magistrate.

Mandela was only an infant at the time, and his father's loss of status forced his mother to move the family to Qunu, an even smaller village north of Mvezo. The village was nestled in a narrow grassy valley; there were no roads, only footpaths that linked the pastures where livestock grazed.

The family lived in huts and ate a local harvest of maize, sorghum, pumpkin and beans, which was all they could afford. Water came from springs and streams and cooking was done outdoors.

Mandela played the games of young boys, acting out male right-of-passage scenarios with toys he made from the natural materials available, including tree branches and clay.

At the suggestion of one of his father's friends, Mandela was baptized in the Methodist Church. He went on to become the first in his family to attend school. As was custom at the time, and probably due to the bias of the British educational system in South Africa, Mandela's teacher told him that his new first name would be Nelson.

When Mandela was 12 years old, his father died of lung disease, causing his life to change dramatically. He was adopted by Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo, the acting regent of the Thembu people — a gesture done as a favor to Mandela's father, who, years earlier, had recommended Jongintaba be made chief.

Mandela subsequently left the carefree life he knew in Qunu, fearing that he would never see his village again. He traveled by motorcar to Mqhekezweni, the provincial capital of Thembuland, to the chief's royal residence. Though he had not forgotten his beloved village of Qunu, he quickly adapted to the new, more sophisticated surroundings of Mqhekezweni.

Mandela was given the same status and responsibilities as the regent's two other children, his son and oldest child, Justice, and daughter Nomafu. Mandela took classes in a one-room school next to the palace, studying English, Xhosa, history and geography.

It was during this period that Mandela developed an interest in African history, from elder chiefs who came to the Great Palace on official business. He learned how the African people had lived in relative peace until the coming of the white people.

According to the elders, the children of South Africa had previously lived as brothers, but white men had shattered this fellowship. While Black men shared their land, air and water with white people, white men took all of these things for themselves.

READ MORE: 14 Inspiring Nelson Mandela Quotes

Political Awakening

When Mandela was 16, it was time for him to partake in the traditional African circumcision ritual to mark his entrance into manhood. The ceremony of circumcision was not just a surgical procedure, but an elaborate ritual in preparation for manhood.

In African tradition, an uncircumcised man cannot inherit his father's wealth, marry or officiate at tribal rituals. Mandela participated in the ceremony with 25 other boys. He welcomed the opportunity to partake in his people's customs and felt ready to make the transition from boyhood to manhood.

His mood shifted during the proceedings, however, when Chief Meligqili, the main speaker at the ceremony, spoke sadly of the young men, explaining that they were enslaved in their own country. Because their land was controlled by white men, they would never have the power to govern themselves, the chief said.

He went on to lament that the promise of the young men would be squandered as they struggled to make a living and perform mindless chores for white men. Mandela would later say that while the chief's words didn't make total sense to him at the time, they would eventually formulate his resolve for an independent South Africa.

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University Life

Under the guardianship of Regent Jongintaba, Mandela was groomed to assume high office, not as a chief, but a counselor to one. As Thembu royalty, Mandela attended a Wesleyan mission school, the Clarkebury Boarding Institute and Wesleyan College, where, he would later state, he achieved academic success through "plain hard work."

He also excelled at track and boxing. Mandela was initially mocked as a "country boy" by his Wesleyan classmates, but eventually became friends with several students, including Mathona, his first female friend.

In 1939, Mandela enrolled at the University of Fort Hare , the only residential center of higher learning for Black people in South Africa at the time. Fort Hare was considered Africa's equivalent of Harvard , drawing scholars from all parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

In his first year at the university, Mandela took the required courses, but focused on Roman-Dutch law to prepare for a career in civil service as an interpreter or clerk — regarded as the best profession that a Black man could obtain at the time.

In his second year at Fort Hare, Mandela was elected to the Student Representative Council. For some time, students had been dissatisfied with the food and lack of power held by the SRC. During this election, a majority of students voted to boycott unless their demands were met.

Aligning with the student majority, Mandela resigned from his position. Seeing this as an act of insubordination, the university expelled Mandela for the rest of the year and gave him an ultimatum: He could return to the school if he agreed to serve on the SRC. When Mandela returned home, the regent was furious, telling him unequivocally that he would have to recant his decision and go back to school in the fall.

A few weeks after Mandela returned home, Regent Jongintaba announced that he had arranged a marriage for his adopted son. The regent wanted to make sure that Mandela's life was properly planned, and the arrangement was within his right, as tribal custom dictated.

Shocked by the news, feeling trapped and believing that he had no other option than to follow this recent order, Mandela ran away from home. He settled in Johannesburg, where he worked a variety of jobs, including as a guard and a clerk, while completing his bachelor's degree via correspondence courses. He then enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg to study law.

Anti-Apartheid Movement

Mandela soon became actively involved in the anti-apartheid movement, joining the African National Congress in 1942. Within the ANC, a small group of young Africans banded together, calling themselves the African National Congress Youth League. Their goal was to transform the ANC into a mass grassroots movement, deriving strength from millions of rural peasants and working people who had no voice under the current regime.

Specifically, the group believed that the ANC's old tactics of polite petitioning were ineffective. In 1949, the ANC officially adopted the Youth League's methods of boycott, strike, civil disobedience and non-cooperation, with policy goals of full citizenship, redistribution of land, trade union rights, and free and compulsory education for all children.

For 20 years, Mandela directed peaceful, nonviolent acts of defiance against the South African government and its racist policies, including the 1952 Defiance Campaign and the 1955 Congress of the People. He founded the law firm Mandela and Tambo, partnering with Oliver Tambo , a brilliant student he'd met while attending Fort Hare. The law firm provided free and low-cost legal counsel to unrepresented Black people.

In 1956, Mandela and 150 others were arrested and charged with treason for their political advocacy (they were eventually acquitted). Meanwhile, the ANC was being challenged by Africanists, a new breed of Black activists who believed that the pacifist method of the ANC was ineffective.

Africanists soon broke away to form the Pan-Africanist Congress, which negatively affected the ANC; by 1959, the movement had lost much of its militant support.

Wife and Children

Mandela was married three times and had six children. He wed his first wife, Evelyn Ntoko Mase, in 1944. The couple had four children together: Madiba Thembekile (d. 1964), Makgatho (d. 2005), Makaziwe (d. 1948 at nine months old) and Maki. The couple divorced in 1957.

In 1958, Mandela wed Winnie Madikizela . The couple had two daughters together, Zenani (Argentina's South African ambassador) and Zindziswa (the South African ambassador to Denmark), before separating in 1996.

Two years later, in 1998, Mandela married Graca Machel, the first Education Minister of Mozambique, with whom he remained until his death in 2013.

Prison Years

Formerly committed to nonviolent protest, Mandela began to believe that armed struggle was the only way to achieve change. In 1961, Mandela co-founded Umkhonto we Sizwe, also known as MK, an armed offshoot of the ANC dedicated to sabotage and use guerilla war tactics to end apartheid.

In 1961, Mandela orchestrated a three-day national workers' strike. He was arrested for leading the strike the following year and was sentenced to five years in prison. In 1963, Mandela was brought to trial again. This time, he and 10 other ANC leaders were sentenced to life imprisonment for political offenses, including sabotage.

Mandela spent 27 years in prison, from November 1962 until February 1990. He was incarcerated on Robben Island for 18 of his 27 years in prison. During this time, he contracted tuberculosis and, as a Black political prisoner, received the lowest level of treatment from prison workers. However, while incarcerated, Mandela was able to earn a Bachelor of Law degree through a University of London correspondence program.

A 1981 memoir by South African intelligence agent Gordon Winter described a plot by the South African government to arrange for Mandela's escape so as to shoot him during the recapture; the plot was foiled by British intelligence.

Mandela continued to be such a potent symbol of Black resistance that a coordinated international campaign for his release was launched, and this international groundswell of support exemplified the power and esteem that Mandela had in the global political community.

In 1982, Mandela and other ANC leaders were moved to Pollsmoor Prison, allegedly to enable contact between them and the South African government. In 1985, President P.W. Botha offered Mandela's release in exchange for renouncing armed struggle; the prisoner flatly rejected the offer.

F. W. de Klerk

With increasing local and international pressure for his release, the government participated in several talks with Mandela over the ensuing years, but no deal was made.

It wasn't until Botha suffered a stroke and was replaced by Frederik Willem de Klerk that Mandela's release was finally announced, on February 11, 1990. De Klerk also lifted the ban on the ANC, removed restrictions on political groups and suspended executions.

Upon his release from prison, Mandela immediately urged foreign powers not to reduce their pressure on the South African government for constitutional reform. While he stated that he was committed to working toward peace, he declared that the ANC's armed struggle would continue until the Black majority received the right to vote.

In 1991, Mandela was elected president of the African National Congress, with lifelong friend and colleague Oliver Tambo serving as national chairperson.

Nobel Peace Prize

In 1993, Mandela and President de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work toward dismantling apartheid in South Africa.

After Mandela’s release from prison, he negotiated with President de Klerk toward the country's first multiracial elections. White South Africans were willing to share power, but many Black South Africans wanted a complete transfer of power.

The negotiations were often strained, and news of violent eruptions, including the assassination of ANC leader Chris Hani, continued throughout the country. Mandela had to keep a delicate balance of political pressure and intense negotiations amid the demonstrations and armed resistance.

Due in no small part to the work of Mandela and President de Klerk, negotiations between Black and white South Africans prevailed: On April 27, 1994, South Africa held its first democratic elections. Mandela was inaugurated as the country's first Black president on May 10, 1994, at the age of 77, with de Klerk as his first deputy.

From 1994 until June 1999, President Mandela worked to bring about the transition from minority rule and apartheid to Black majority rule. He used the nation's enthusiasm for sports as a pivot point to promote reconciliation between white and Black people, encouraging Black South Africans to support the once-hated national rugby team.

In 1995, South Africa came to the world stage by hosting the Rugby World Cup, which brought further recognition and prestige to the young republic. That year Mandela was also awarded the Order of Merit.

During his presidency, Mandela also worked to protect South Africa's economy from collapse. Through his Reconstruction and Development Plan, the South African government funded the creation of jobs, housing and basic health care.

In 1996, Mandela signed into law a new constitution for the nation, establishing a strong central government based on majority rule, and guaranteeing both the rights of minorities and the freedom of expression.

Retirement and Later Career

By the 1999 general election, Mandela had retired from active politics. He continued to maintain a busy schedule, however, raising money to build schools and clinics in South Africa's rural heartland through his foundation, and serving as a mediator in Burundi's civil war.

Mandela was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer in 2001. In June 2004, at the age of 85, he announced his formal retirement from public life and returned to his native village of Qunu.

On July 18, 2007, Mandela and wife Graca Machel co-founded The Elders , a group of world leaders aiming to work both publicly and privately to find solutions to some of the world's toughest issues. The group included Desmond Tutu , Kofi Annan , Ela Bhatt, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Jimmy Carter , Li Zhaoxing, Mary Robinson and Muhammad Yunus.

The Elders' impact has spanned Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and their actions have included promoting peace and women's equality, demanding an end to atrocities, and supporting initiatives to address humanitarian crises and promote democracy.

In addition to advocating for peace and equality on both a national and global scale, in his later years, Mandela remained committed to the fight against AIDS . His son Makgatho died of the disease in 2005.

Relationship With Barack Obama

Mandela made his last public appearance at the final match of the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. He remained largely out of the spotlight in his later years, choosing to spend much of his time in his childhood community of Qunu, south of Johannesburg.

He did, however, visit with U.S. first lady Michelle Obama , wife of President Barack Obama , during her trip to South Africa in 2011. Barack Obama, while a junior senator from Illinois, also met with Mandela during his 2005 trip to the United States.

Mandela died on December 5, 2013, at the age of 95 in his home in Johannesburg, South Africa. After suffering a lung infection in January 2011, Mandela was briefly hospitalized in Johannesburg to undergo surgery for a stomach ailment in early 2012.

He was released after a few days, later returning to Qunu. Mandela would be hospitalized many times over the next several years — in December 2012, March 2013 and June 2013 — for further testing and medical treatment relating to his recurrent lung infection.

Following his June 2013 hospital visit, Machel, canceled a scheduled appearance in London to remain at her husband's side, and his daughter, Zenani Dlamini, flew back from Argentina to South Africa to be with her father.

Jacob Zuma , South Africa's president, issued a statement in response to public concern over Mandela's March 2013 health scare, asking for support in the form of prayer: "We appeal to the people of South Africa and the world to pray for our beloved Madiba and his family and to keep them in their thoughts," Zuma said.

On the day of Mandela’s death, Zuma released a statement speaking to Mandela's legacy: "Wherever we are in the country, wherever we are in the world, let us reaffirm his vision of a society ... in which none is exploited, oppressed or dispossessed by another," he said.

Movie and Books

In 1994, Mandela published his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom , much of which he had secretly written while in prison. The book inspired the 2013 movie Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.

He also published a number of books on his life and struggles, among them No Easy Walk to Freedom ; Nelson Mandela: The Struggle Is My Life ; and Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales .

Mandela Day

In 2009, Mandela's birthday (July 18) was declared Mandela Day, an international day to promote global peace and celebrate the South African leader's legacy. According to the Nelson Mandela Foundation , the annual event is meant to encourage citizens worldwide to give back the way that Mandela has throughout his lifetime.

A statement on the Nelson Mandela Foundation's website reads: "Mr. Mandela gave 67 years of his life fighting for the rights of humanity. All we are asking is that everyone gives 67 minutes of their time, whether it’s supporting your chosen charity or serving your local community."

QUICK FACTS

  • Name: Nelson Mandela
  • Birth Year: 1918
  • Birth date: July 18, 1918
  • Birth City: Mvezo, Transkei
  • Birth Country: South Africa
  • Gender: Male
  • Best Known For: Nelson Mandela was the first Black president of South Africa, elected after time in prison for his anti-apartheid work. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
  • Civil Rights
  • World Politics
  • Astrological Sign: Cancer
  • University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
  • University College of Fort Hare
  • Wesleyan College
  • University of London
  • Clarkebury Boarding Institute
  • Nacionalities
  • South African
  • Interesting Facts
  • Mandela's African name "Rolihlahla" means "troublemaker."
  • Mandela became the first Black president of South Africa in 1994, serving until 1999.
  • Beginning in 1962, Mandela spent 27 years in prison for political offenses.
  • Death Year: 2013
  • Death date: December 5, 2013
  • Death City: Johannesburg
  • Death Country: South Africa

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CITATION INFORMATION

  • Article Title: Nelson Mandela Biography
  • Author: Biography.com Editors
  • Website Name: The Biography.com website
  • Url: https://www.biography.com/political-figures/nelson-mandela
  • Access Date:
  • Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
  • Last Updated: January 7, 2022
  • Original Published Date: April 3, 2014
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Death is something inevitable. When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is, therefore, why I will sleep for the eternity.
  • Those who conduct themselves with morality, integrity and consistency need not fear the forces of inhumanity and cruelty.
  • Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.
  • Our march to freedom is irreversible. We must not allow fear to stand in our way.
  • When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.
  • I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it....The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
  • Prison itself is a tremendous education in the need for patience and perseverance. It is above all a test of one's commitment.
  • I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended.
  • During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against Black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. 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.
  • For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
  • If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.
  • Man's goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.
  • I was made, by the law, a criminal, not because of what I had done, but because of what I stood for, because of what I thought, because of my conscience.
  • The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
  • Wherever we are in the country, wherever we are in the world, let us reaffirm his vision of a society ... in which none is exploited, oppressed or dispossessed by another.

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Biography

Biography Nelson Mandela

nelson mandela

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

– Nelson Mandela

Short Bio of Nelson Mandela

Young_Nelson-Mandela

A young Nelson Mandela (1938)

Nelson Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1918. He was the son of a local tribal leader of the Tembu tribe. As a youngster, Nelson took part in the activities and initiation ceremonies of his local tribe. However, unlike his father Nelson Mandela gained a full education, studying at the University College of Fort Hare and also the University of Witwatersrand. Nelson was a good student and qualified with a law degree in 1942.

During his time at University, Nelson Mandela became increasingly aware of the racial inequality and injustice faced by non-white people. In 1943, he decided to join the ANC and actively take part in the struggle against apartheid.

As one of the few qualified lawyers, Nelson Mandela was in great demand; also his commitment to the cause saw him promoted through the ranks of the ANC. In 1956, Nelson Mandela, along with several other members of the ANC were arrested and charged with treason. After a lengthy and protracted court case, the defendants were finally acquitted in 1961. However, with the ANC now banned, Nelson Mandela suggested an active armed resistance to the apartheid regime. This led to the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe, which would act as a guerilla resistance movement. Receiving training in other African countries, the Umkhonto we Sizwe took part in active sabotage.

In 1963, Mandela was again arrested and put on trial for treason. This time the State succeeded in convicting Mandela of plotting to overthrow the government. However, the case received considerable international attention and the apartheid regime of South Africa became under the glare of the international community. At the end of his trial, Nelson Mandela made a long speech, in which he was able to affirm his commitment to the ideals of democracy.

“We believe that South Africa belongs to all the people who live in it, and not to one group, be it black or white. We did not want an interracial war, and tried to avoid it to the last minute.”

– Nelson Mandela, Supreme court of South Africa, Pretoria, April 20, 1964

Closing remark at the 1964 trial

“During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. 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.”

– Nelson Mandela, Supreme court of South Africa, Pretoria, April 20, 1964. (See: full speech )

Time in Prison

mandela-prison-room

F.W.De Klerk and Nelson Mandela at World Economic Forum 1992.

During his time in prison, Mandela became increasingly well known throughout the world. Mandela became the best known black leader and was symbolic of the struggle against the apartheid regime. Largely unbeknown to Mandela, his continued imprisonment led to a world-wide pressure for his release. Many countries implemented sanctions on apartheid South Africa. Due to international pressure, from the mid-1980s, the apartheid regime increasingly began to negotiate with the ANC and Nelson Mandela in particular. On many occasions, Mandela was offered a conditional freedom. However, he always refused to put the political ideals of the ANC above his own freedom.

Freedom and a new Rainbow Nation

Mandela_voting_in_1994-paul-weinberg

Mandela voting in 1994 election. Photo. P.Weinburg

Eventually, Nelson Mandela was released on February 11, 1990. The day was a huge event for South Africa and the world. His release symbolic of the impending end of apartheid. Following his release there followed protracted negotiations to secure a lasting settlement. The negotiations were tense often against the backdrop of tribal violence. However, in April 1994, South Africa had its first full and fair elections. The ANC, with 65% of the vote, were elected and Nelson Mandela became the first President of the new South Africa.

“The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come. The time to build is upon us.”

As President, he sought to heal the rifts of the past. Despite being mistreated, he was magnanimous in his dealing with his former oppressors. His forgiving and tolerant attitude gained the respect of the whole South African nation and considerably eased the transition to a full democracy.

“If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named goodness and forgiveness.”

Governor-General of Australia

Photo: Governor-General of Australia

In 1995, the Rugby World Cup was held in South Africa. Nelson Mandela was instrumental in encouraging black South Africans to support the ‘Springboks’ – The Springboks were previously reviled for being a symbol of white supremacy. Mandela surprised many by meeting the Springbok captain, Francois Pienaar, before the World Cup to wish the team well. After an epic final, in which South Africa beat New Zealand, Mandela, wearing a Springbok jersey, presented the trophy to the winning South Africa team. De Klerk later stated Mandela successfully won the hearts of a million white rugby fans.

Nelson Mandela also oversaw the formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee in which former crimes of apartheid were investigated, but stressing individual forgiveness and helping the nation to look forward. The Committee was chaired by Desmond Tutu , and Mandela later praised its work.

Nelson Mandela retired from the Presidency in 1999, to be succeeded by Thabo Mbeki. In Mandela’s later years, ill health curtailed his public life. However, he did speak out on certain issues. He was very critical of the US-led invasion of Iraq during 2003. Speaking in a Newsweek interview in 2002, he expressed concern at American actions, he said:

“I really wanted to retire and rest and spend more time with my children, my grandchildren and of course with my wife. But the problems are such that for anybody with a conscience who can use whatever influence he may have to try to bring about peace, it’s difficult to say no.” (10 September 2002)

He has also campaigned to highlight the issue of HIV / AIDS in South Africa.

Mandela was married three times, fathered six children, and had 17 grandchildren. His first wife was Evelyn Ntoko Mase. His second wife was Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, they split after an acrimonious dispute. Winnie was alleged to have an involvement in human rights abuses. Mandela married for a third time on his 80th birthday to Graça Machel.

nelson-mandela-sri-chinmoy-garca-michel

Graça Michel, Sri Chinmoy and Nelson Mandela holding Peace Torch. Source

Nelson Mandela was often referred to as Madiba – his Xhosa clan name.

Nelson Mandela died on 5 December 2013 after a long illness with his family at his side. He was 95.

At his memorial, Barack Obama, the President of the US said:

“We will not likely see the likes of Nelson Mandela ever again, so it falls to us, as best we can, to carry forward the example that he set. He no longer belongs to us; he belongs to the ages.”

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan . “Biography of Nelson Mandela”, Oxford, UK.  www.biographyonline.net.   Published: 7th December 2013. Last updated 13th February 2018.

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Long walk to freedom : the autobiography of Nelson Mandela

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A Brief History of Nelson Mandela's Life

The key moments of an extraordinary life.

By The Nelson Mandela Foundation

Nelson Mandela walks out of the gates of Victor Verster prison (1990-02-11) by Gideon Mendel The Nelson Mandela Foundation

Madiba's journey

Known and loved around the world for his commitment to peace, negotiation and reconciliation, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was South Africa's first democratically elected president (1994-1999). Mandela was an anti-apartheid revolutionary and political leader, as well as a philanthropist with an abiding love for children. Mandela was born into the Xhosa royal family on 18 July 1918 and died on 5 December 2013.

Mvezo rondavels v2 (2007-04-16) The Nelson Mandela Foundation

The early years

Rolihlahla Mandela was born into the Madiba clan in the village of Mvezo, in the Eastern Cape, on 18 July 1918. His mother was Nonqaphi Nosekeni and his father was Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela, principal counsellor to the Acting King of the Thembu people, Jongintaba Dalindyebo. In 1930, when he was 12 years old, his father died and the young Rolihlahla became a ward of Jongintaba at the Great Place in Mqhekezweni. Hearing the elders’ stories of his ancestors’ valour during the wars of resistance, he dreamed also of making his own contribution to the freedom struggle of his people.

Childhood (2010/2010) The Nelson Mandela Foundation

Gilbert Nzimeni Collection Healdtown photograph (front) The Nelson Mandela Foundation

Education He attended primary school in Qunu where his teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave him the name Nelson, in accordance with the custom of giving all schoolchildren “Christian” names. He completed his Junior Certificate at Clarkebury Boarding Institute and went on to Healdtown, a Wesleyan secondary school of some repute, where he matriculated. Mandela began his studies for a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University College of Fort Hare but did not complete the degree there as he was expelled for joining in a student protest. On his return to the Great Place at Mqhekezweni the King was furious and said if he didn’t return to Fort Hare he would arrange wives for him and his cousin Justice. They ran away to Johannesburg instead, arriving there in 1941. There he worked as a mine security officer and after meeting Walter Sisulu, an estate agent, he was introduced to Lazer Sidelsky. He then did his articles through a firm of attorneys – Witkin, Eidelman and Sidelsky. He completed his BA through the University of South Africa and went back to Fort Hare for his graduation in 1943.

Mandela with his law class at the University of the Witwatersrand (1944) by WITS University archive The Nelson Mandela Foundation

University Meanwhile, he began studying for an LLB 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 an LLB through the University of South Africa. He graduated in absentia at a ceremony in Cape Town.

The Big City (2010/2010) The Nelson Mandela Foundation

NRM and Bikitsha (1941/1941) The Nelson Mandela Foundation

Entering politics

Mandela, while increasingly politically involved from 1942, only joined the African National Congress in 1944 when he helped to form the ANC Youth League (ANCYL).In 1944 he married Walter Sisulu’s cousin, Evelyn Mase, a nurse. They had two sons, Madiba Thembekile "Thembi" and Makgatho, and two daughters both called Makaziwe, the first of whom died in infancy. He and his wife divorced in 1958.Mandela rose through the ranks of the ANCYL and through its efforts, the ANC adopted a more radical mass-based policy, the Programme of Action, in 1949.

scan0003 The Nelson Mandela Foundation

National Volunteer-in-Chief In 1952 he was chosen as the National Volunteer-in-Chief of the Defiance Campaign with Maulvi Cachalia as his deputy. This campaign of civil disobedience against six unjust laws was a joint programme between the ANC and the South African Indian Congress. He and 19 others were charged under the Suppression of Communism Act for their part in the campaign and sentenced to nine months of hard labour, suspended for two years.

Nelson Mandela and Jerry Moloi sparring by Bob Gosani/ BAHA The Nelson Mandela Foundation

Mandela and Tambo A two-year diploma in law on top of his BA allowed Mandela to practise law, and in August 1952 he and Oliver Tambo established a law firm called Mandela & Tambo. At the end of 1952 he was banned for the first time. As a restricted person he was only permitted to watch in secret as the Freedom Charter was adopted in Kliptown on 26 June 1955.

Treason Trial, Unthreading Mandela (2018-11-07) by Nelson Mandela Foundation The Nelson Mandela Foundation

The Treason Trial

Mandela was arrested in a countrywide police swoop on 5 December 1956, which led to the 1956 Treason Trial. Men and women of all races found themselves in the dock in the marathon trial that only ended when the last 28 accused, including Mandela, were acquitted on 29 March 1961.

The Prisoner (2010/2010) The Nelson Mandela Foundation

Nelson Mandela with his dog Gompo by Alf Khumalo The Nelson Mandela Foundation

State of emergency On 21 March 1960 police killed 69 unarmed people in a protest in Sharpeville against the pass laws. This led to the country’s first state of emergency and the banning of the ANC and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) on 8 April. Mandela and his colleagues in the Treason Trial were among thousands detained during the state of emergency.

Amy Thornton-Reitstein (1994-01-01) Original Source: To download a photograph click here

Spear of the Nation Days before the end of the Treason Trial, Mandela travelled to Pietermaritzburg to speak at the All-in Africa Conference, which resolved that he should write to Prime Minister Verwoerd requesting a national convention on a non-racial constitution, and to warn that should he not agree there would be a national strike against South Africa becoming a republic. After he and his colleagues were acquitted in the Treason Trial, Mandela went underground and began planning a national strike for 29, 30 and 31 March. In the face of massive mobilisation of state security the strike was called off early. In June 1961 he was asked to lead the armed struggle and helped to establish Umkhonto weSizwe (Spear of the Nation), which launched on 16 December 1961 with a series of explosions.

Winni and Mandela getting married (1958-06) by UWC, Robben Island , Mayibuye archives / Eli Weinberg The Nelson Mandela Foundation

Marriage During the trial Mandela married a social worker, Winnie Madikizela, on 14 June 1958. They had two daughters, Zenani and Zindziswa. The couple divorced in 1996.

AT040-13 Mandela Algeria (1962) by UWC, Robben Island , Mayibuye archives The Nelson Mandela Foundation

Undercover On 11 January 1962, using the adopted name David Motsamayi, Mandela secretly left South Africa. He travelled around Africa and visited England to gain support for the armed struggle. He received military training in Morocco and Ethiopia and returned to South Africa in July 1962. He was arrested in a police roadblock outside Howick on 5 August while returning from KwaZulu-Natal, where he had briefed ANC President Chief Albert Luthuli about his trip.

Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu by Unknown Robben Island Museum

Sentenced to 5 years in prison He was charged with leaving the country without a permit and inciting workers to strike. He was convicted and sentenced to five years' imprisonment, which he began serving at the Pretoria Local Prison. On 27 May 1963 he was transferred to Robben Island and returned to Pretoria on 12 June. Within a month police raided Liliesleaf, a secret hideout in Rivonia, Johannesburg, used by ANC and Communist Party activists, and several of his comrades were arrested.

8 Rivonia Trialists (1964) by Unknown Robben Island Museum

The Rivonia Trial On 9 October 1963 Mandela joined 10 others on trial for sabotage in what became known as the Rivonia Trial. While facing the death penalty his words to the court at the end of his famous "Speech from the Dock" on 20 April 1964 became immortalised: “During my lifetime I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see realised. But, My Lord, if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” Speech from the Dock quote by Nelson Mandela on 20 April 1964

Robben Island group of prisoners (1977-04-25) The Nelson Mandela Foundation

Robben Island On 11 June 1964 Mandela and seven other accused, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba, Denis Goldberg, Elias Motsoaledi and Andrew Mlangeni, were convicted and the next day were sentenced to life imprisonment. Goldberg was sent to Pretoria Prison because he was white, while the others went to Robben Island.

Life in prison Mandela’s mother died in 1968 and his eldest son, Thembi, in 1969. He was not allowed to attend their funerals.

Release Mandela Original Source: Graeme Williams / South Photos

From freedom to liberation On 31 March 1982 Mandela was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town with Sisulu, Mhlaba and Mlangeni. Kathrada joined them in October. When he returned to the prison in November 1985 after prostate surgery, Mandela was held alone. Justice Minister Kobie Coetsee visited him in hospital. Later Mandela initiated talks about an ultimate meeting between the apartheid government and the ANC.

Release from prison

On 12 August 1988 he was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. After more than three months in two hospitals he was transferred on 7 December 1988 to a house at Victor Verster Prison near Paarl where he spent his last 14 months of imprisonment. He was released from its gates on Sunday 11 February 1990, nine days after the unbanning of the ANC and the PAC and nearly four months after the release of his remaining Rivonia comrades. Throughout his imprisonment he had rejected at least three conditional offers of release.

Inauguration of President Nelson Mandela (1994-05-10) Original Source: Guy Stubbs

Nobel Peace Prize Mandela immersed himself in official talks to end white minority rule and in 1991 was elected ANC President to replace his ailing friend, Oliver Tambo. In 1993 he and President FW de Klerk jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize and on 27 April 1994 he voted for the first time in his life.

Nelson Mandela signing the 'President's Bible' (1994-05-10) The Nelson Mandela Foundation

On 10 May 1994 he was inaugurated as South Africa’s first democratically elected President. On his 80th birthday in 1998 he married Graça Machel, his third wife. 

The Statesman (2010/2010) The Nelson Mandela Foundation

Retiring from Retirement (2007-06/2007-06) The Nelson Mandela Foundation

Retirement True to his promise, Mandela stepped down in 1999 after one term as President. He continued to work with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund he set up in 1995 and established the Nelson Mandela Foundation and The Mandela Rhodes Foundation.

Madiba at Home - Mvezo (2005-07-18/2005-07-18) The Nelson Mandela Foundation

Mvezo and Mandla Mandela In April 2007 his grandson, Mandla Mandela, was installed as head of the Mvezo Traditional Council at a ceremony at the Mvezo Great Place.

Mandela's body being transported (2013-12-14) by Gallo images /Foto24/ Deaan Vivier The Nelson Mandela Foundation

Mandela's legacy Nelson Mandela died at his home in Johannesburg on 5 December 2013.

Mandela at 92 (2010-07-17) The Nelson Mandela Foundation

Nelson Mandela never wavered in his devotion to democracy, equality and learning. Despite terrible provocation, he never answered racism with racism. His life is an inspiration to all who are oppressed and deprived; and to all who are opposed to oppression and deprivation.

Robben Island Prison Tour

Robben island museum, 11 february 1990: mandela's release from prison, africa media online, nelson mandela's fight to empower the next generation, the nelson mandela foundation, in their own words: recollections of former political prisoners, what happened at the treason trial, a virtual exhibition on the life and times of nelson mandela, poster power: protest art from south africa, 9 august 1956: the women's anti-pass march, what happened when nelson mandela previewed his prison archive, a timeline of robben island from 700,000 bce to 1845 ce, the signs that defined the apartheid.

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Nelson Mandela Essay

Nelson Mandela was a statesman and black nationalist leader in South Africa who was born on July 18, 1918, in Umtata, Cape of Good Hope. He passed away on December 5, 2013, in Johannesburg. Mandela, a law student at the University of Witwatersrand and the son of a Xhosa chief, joined the African National Congress(ANC) in 1944. Here are a few sample essays on Nelson Mandela.

Nelson Mandela Essay

100 Words Essay On Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela was an outstanding leader of African nationalism and a professional lawyer born on July 18, 1918, in South Africa. He eventually gave up on that, and in 1944 joined the African National Congress. In South Africa, he spearheaded the nonviolent resistance against racial inequality.

He was one of South Africa's finest leaders and independence fighters. Mandela battled against the repressive regime alongside the revolutionaries. Nelson Mandela became the nation's first black president, ultimately leading to the overthrow of the white supremacist administration. He will always be seen as a symbol of social justice and equality. At age 95, he passed away on December 5th, 2013.

200 Words Essay On Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918. He was a native of a little South African community called Umtata. His entire life represents a struggle in South Africa against ingrained racism. He was one of those who were burdened by the impartial system. Thus it wasn't simple for him to fight against the current circumstances.

Nelson Mandela’s Contributions

Nelson Mandela lived through years of being a colonised person before becoming actively involved in the anti-apartheid movement. Mandela endured suffering as an African boy who fell victim to the European expatriate effort that involved 'civilising' local people. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned in the 1960s for opposing the government's racial restrictions. He spent around three decades behind bars, yet he never wavered in his quest for justice and equality for all people.

Nelson Mandela was regarded as a man of strength, integrity, and ideals and a strong, unyielding leader. He was the only person to lead the country in 1994 in the fight to eradicate racial discrimination. In South Africa, he received the first-ever nomination for president of a race. Between 1994 and 1999, he presided over South Africa for five years.

Nelson Mandela symbolised the aspirations for a just and free world even after he left public life.

500 Words Essay On Nelson Mandela

Henry Mandela, the chief of the Tembu tribe, gave birth to Nelson Mandela in 1918. He married Evelyn Ntoko Mase, a nurse, in the year 1944. His twelve fruitful years of marriage ended in divorce. After two years, in 1958, he wed Nomzamo Winnie Madikileza, a political activist and social worker. In 1998, after divorcing her, he married Graca Machel, a lawyer. He had two daughters from his second marriage and three kids from his first marriage.

Nelson Mandela’s Academics

Speaking of his schooling, Nelson Mandela completed his bachelor's degree through distance learning at South Africa University in 1941. He earned a law degree from Witwatersrand University in 1942. He began working as a lawyer in South Africa in 1948.

Nelson Mandela’s Life As A Prisoner

He experienced repeated police harassment between the 1940s and the 1950s, including harassment, banishment, and detention. In 1960, he formed a military wing and went into hiding. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for five years in 1962 due to his illegal international travel. This act angered South Africans, and a strike was called. He was held for two years before being accused of disloyalty, which resulted in a life sentence for him.

His 4-and-a-half-hour lecture, which criticised racial prejudice, is still remembered today. Mandela served nearly 27 years of a life sentence in prison. His detention improved his political standing, which sparked a global effort to have his sentence commuted.

Mandela spent all of these twenty-seven years behind bars. He was kept out of sight and concealed from everyone as he dug limestone and grew seaweed. Nelson Mandela was hospitalised for TB in 1988. After he had healed, he was sent back to prison under less stringent circumstances. He was fully discharged in 1990, allowing him to watch happy celebration scenes at home and abroad.

His Life As A Politician

Mandela's involvement in politics began after he enrolled in college. He worked hard to earn a Bachelor of "Fine Arts" degree. He received a nomination from a student political organisation to serve on the Representative Council while he was a student. He was following his debarment due to his participation in a campus protest. As a result, he travelled to Johannesburg to complete his BA. When World War II broke out, Nelson Mandela joined forces with the ANC's "African National Congress" after receiving his degree in 1942.

Together with the other ANC members, Nelson Mandela formed a group. This group's main goal was to make the ANC a widespread movement. Mandela was a key figure in several racial activities and political campaigns that relied on nonviolent tactics, including strikes, boycotts, and acts of civil disobedience.

He passed away in December 2013. At the time, he was 95 years old. Nelson Mandela received more than 250 honours and distinctions, including the Medal of Freedom, the Bharat Ratna, and the "1993 Nobel Peace" Prize.

He was a great inspiration for me. I used to study the biography of the legend Nelson Mandela. He is known for saying, "A Winner is a Dreamer who Never Gives Up."

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Nelson Mandela was a remarkable leader and an important figure in the history of South Africa. He was imprisoned for 27 years, but he refused to give up his fight for freedom. When he was released in 1990, Mandela became the first black president of South Africa. He served as president until 1994, when he was elected to the parliament of South Africa. Mandela continued to serve in parliament until 1997, when he retired from politics. He died in 2013 at the age of 95. After spending 27 years in prison, he emerged as one of South Africa’s most revered icons and helped to lead the country through its dark days into an era of racial equality and democracy. As one of the architects of freedom in South Africa, his legacy is sure to be remembered for years to come.

Paragraph on Nelson Mandela- 150 Words

Nelson Mandela was a remarkable individual who had a profound impact on both South Africa and the world. He was born in 1918 in Mvezo, Transkei, and became a political activist at a young age. He was imprisoned for years for his beliefs, but eventually became president of South Africa in 1994. Under his leadership, South Africa became a democracy and saw significant economic growth. Mandela passed away in 2013 at the age of 95 after a long and successful career. Nelson Mandela was an icon of human rights and democracy. He fought against apartheid and became the first black president of South Africa in 1994. After his release from prison, he worked tirelessly to promote reconciliation and democracy in his country. Mandela’s tireless work has earned him numerous awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize. His legacy will continue to inspire people around the world to fight for justice and equality.

Paragraph on Nelson Mandela- 200 Words

Nelson Mandela was an influential figure in the fight for democracy and human rights. He was imprisoned for 27 years, but eventually became the president of South Africa. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his work on behalf of the people of South Africa. Mandela is a symbol of hope and resilience, and his legacy will continue to be felt throughout the world. He was an amazing human being who has been credited with helping to bring about change and peace in his country, South Africa. He was also a powerful leader and a prolific writer. He is best known for his role in the struggle against white rule in South Africa and for leading the country to democracy. Mandela was released from prison on February 11, 1990, after serving 27 years of a life sentence for terrorism. Nelson Mandela was a powerful leader and an icon of peace. He fought for human rights and against apartheid, which was a government system that segregated people based on race. He is now considered one of the most influential figures in history. He left an incredible legacy. Mandela was a powerful voice for social justice, fighting for human rights and democracy worldwide. He is considered one of the greatest leaders in history and his influence is still felt today. Read about his amazing life story and see what he accomplished!

Paragraph on Nelson Mandela- 300 Words

Nelson Mandela was a Nobel Prize-winning South African politician and activist who served as President of the country from 1994 to 1999. He played a leading role in the fight against apartheid, and became head of the African National Congress (ANC) in 1961. In 1990, he was elected President of South Africa, becoming the first black leader of a major Western country. He remained president until his death in 2013. During his time as president, Mandela made significant changes to South Africa’s government and society. He abolished apartheid and reorganized the country’s economy into five sectors: public service, private enterprise, agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism. He also created an integrated education system that included both white and black schools. Mandela was a powerful advocate for human rights, and his presidency was marked by significant peace efforts between South Africa and its former enemies. He is often cited as one of the greatest leaders of our time. Nelson Mandela, one of the most iconic and influential leaders in recent history, was born on July 18, 1918. He became president of South Africa in 1994 after years of fighting against white rule. Mandela’s role as president was not without its challenges – he faced many struggles including years of imprisonment on Robben Island – but his legacy is unquestioned. After his presidency ended in 1999, Mandela devoted himself to helping the poor and disadvantaged around the world through his non-profit organization, The Nelson Mandel Foundation. Today, he is widely recognized for his work with democracy and human rights. He played an important role in the fight against apartheid and helped to bring about change for the betterment of all South Africans. His legacy continues to live on through his work and teachings, and we should all be proud of what he has done for our society.

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Introduction

Nelson Mandela was an incredible person who helped to shape the course of history. He is best known for his work as a political activist in South Africa, and later as the first President of South Africa after the country’s liberation from white rule. Mandela was also a deeply spiritual man, and his moral compass helped him navigate through some of the most difficult times in his life. While Mandela’s death at the age of 95 was a great loss to the world, it also opened up space for others to carry on his legacy. In particular, his daughter Zindzi has made it her mission to ensure that her father’s message of forgiveness and reconciliation is heard around the world. Regardless of your political beliefs, be sure to read Zindzi Mandela’s powerful words on her father’s life and death.

Life of Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918 in Mvezo, a small town in the Transkei region of South Africa. After graduating from high school, Mandela enrolled at the University of Fort Hare where he became involved in the African National Congress (ANC). In 1944, he was arrested for his involvement in the ANC and sentenced to five years in prison. While incarcerated, Mandela studied law and developed his political beliefs. Upon his release from prison in 1962, Mandela became the Umkhonto weSizwe ( Spear of the Nation) leader of the ANC and worked to liberate South Africa from white rule. In 1990, after years of campaigning and negotiation, Mandela was elected President of South Africa and served until 1994. Mandela is now retired and resides in Houghton, South Africa.

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela was an incredible figure in the world, and his impact on history is undeniable. He was a leader of the African National Congress during South Africa’s apartheid regime, and after years of fighting and protesting he was eventually imprisoned and released in 1990. Mandela became president of South Africa in 1994, and led the country through a period of significant change and progress. He passed away in 2013, but his legacy will continue to be felt long into the future.

Legacy of Nelson Mandela

Mandela was a global symbol of resistance and reconciliation. He championed the rights of the poor and condemned apartheid as an injustice. Mandela served 27 years in prison before becoming South Africa’s first black president. He passed away in 2013 at the age of 95.

What Nelson Mandela Did

Nelson Mandela was a revolutionary who helped to change South Africa and the world. He was imprisoned for 27 years, but he never gave up hope of one day becoming the president of South Africa. After his release in 1990, Mandela became the first black leader of South Africa. He served as president until 1999, when he was elected as the first black president of the country. Mandela is now retired and lives in Johannesburg.

Mandela’s legacy spans more than sixty years, and his influence is still felt today. He was a powerful symbol of resistance against South Africa’s white minority rule, and his message of Equality, Justice and Peace has inspired millions. Mandela is also credited with helping to revive the African National Congress (ANC) and leading it to victory in the 1990 election. His tireless work for human rights has earned him numerous awards and honors, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

Background of Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in the Transkei region of South Africa. His father, Thembelani Mandela, was a political leader and chief of the Xhosa tribe. Mandela’s mother, Dolly (Dolores) Madikizela, was a teacher. Mandela attended a Christian school and then the University of South Africa where he studied law. He joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1943 and served as its secretary-general from 1961 to 1989. In 1962, he was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island for his role in anti-apartheid activities. He was released in 1990 as part of an agreement between the ANC and the government. In 1991, Mandela was elected the first president of South Africa. During his presidency, he led negotiations that led to the dismantling of apartheid and the establishment of a multiracial democracy. Mandela retired from public life in 1999 and died on December 5, 2013.

Achievements of Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela is considered one of the most influential and significant political activists of the 20th century. He was a leader in the African National Congress and served 18 years in prison because of his activism. Mandela was released in 1990 after negotiations with the South African government. Mandela has since served as president of South Africa and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1993. He has made significant contributions to peace and reconciliation, and his work has helped to promote human rights globally.

In the twentieth century, Nelson Mandela was one of the most influential and celebrated leaders in the world. He fought against discrimination and apartheid in South Africa for over twenty-five years, leading to his imprisonment and eventual release. Mandela is now a global symbol of human rights and reconciliation, and his legacy continues to inspire people around the world. Thank you for reading this article on Nelson Mandela, and I hope it has helped you learn more about one of history’s greatest figures.

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  • Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom Summary Class 10 English

Summary of Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Long Walk to Freedom is the autobiography of Nelson Mandela, who was the former South African President. This article is for Nelson Mandela long walk to freedom summary. This chapter is the extracts from the “Long Walk to Freedom” book. It includes the description of the inauguration ceremony and citations from his speech and about his journey to being a freedom fighter. It says about the other countless people who fought for their freedom.   In South Africa, a brutal practice named “apartheid” was very popular in those days. It referred to the discrimination between people on the basis of their race and colour. It was one of the most brutal societies in which dark-skinned people were deprived of their basic rights. This lesson gives us an overview of the struggles of Mandela for making the society with no discrimination on the basis of their colour, caste, race, age or gender.

nelson mandela long walk to freedom summary

Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom Summary in English

“A Long to Freedom”, by Nelson Mandela is all about the struggle of freedom of South-Africa. On May 10, 1994, Nelson Mandela has taken the vow as the first black president of South Africa. And therefore it was becoming a new-born democratic country. Nelson Mandela took the oath as the first black president.

Many dignitaries from different countries had come to be part of the most significant day. In his speech, Mandela thanked all those dignitaries. Mandela assured his countrymen that his country would never ever experience the same suppression of one by another. Democracy had been established in South Africa and as a result, a government of no discrimination was established.

Read more English Chapter Summaries here

The people of South Africa sang two National Anthems as a symbol of that day. Mandela recalled that the reason for this movement was that Black-skinned people were exploited by the White people. He said that this type of suppression of people of South Africa is the origin of many stars. People must learn to hate first, because if they hate then they can be taught to love, as love comes from the opposite circumstances. He also says that a brave man is not that who does not feel afraid but who conquers it.

In life, a man has two major obligations. First towards his family, to his parents, to his wife and to his children and second on the other hand obligation towards his country, people and the community. Everyone fulfils his duty as per his inclination and interest. But it was very tough to fulfil in a country like South Africa. When Mandela became an adult then he understood that his freedom was only an illusion. In fact, he was the slave of exploitation. He also understood that not only he was a slave but his other family members were also.

According to him, Freedom is also mandatory for them who were suppressing others in the past. They also have the right to have it because snatcher of other’s freedom is a prisoner of the same. Thus, the oppressor is as much a prisoner as the oppressed. The oppressor too is not free.

Conclusion of Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

The brave man is not the one who does not feel afraid, but he is the one who conquers that fear. Mandela said that every man has his duties towards his country and community too.

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  • Nelson Mandela Biography

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The first President of South Africa to be elected in entirely representative democratic elections was Nelson Mandela. He was a prominent anti-apartheid radical and leader of the African National Congress before his presidency, who spent 27 years in jail for his participation in the activities of clandestine armed resistance and sabotage.

About Nelson Mandela

Full Name - Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

Date of Birth - July 18, 1918

Date of Death - December 5, 2013

Cause of Death - Prolonged respiratory infection

Age - 95 years

Nelson Mandela spouse(s) -

Evelyn Ntoko Mase (m. 1944; div. 1958)​

Winnie Madikizela (m. 1958; div. 1996)

Graça Machel ​(m. 1998)

Who is Nelson Mandela?

Nelson Mandela belonged to the Thembu Dynasty cadet branch which reigned (nominally) in the Transkeian Territories of the Cape Province Union of South Africa. He was born in the small village of Qunu in the Mthatha district, the capital of the Transkei. Ngubengcuka (died 1830), the Inkosi Enkulu or King of the Thembu people, was his great-grandfather and was ultimately subjected to British colonial rule. One of the king's sons, named Mandela, became Nelson's grandfather and the source of his surname.

His father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa (1880-1928) was appointed chief of the village of Mvezo. However, he was stripped of his position after alienating the colonial authorities and he moved his family to Qunu. Gadla, however, remained a member of the Privy Council of Inkosi and was instrumental in the ascension of Jongintaba Dalindyebo to the Thembu throne, who would later return this favor by informally adopting Mandela upon the death of Gadla.

Mandela's father had four wives, with whom he fathered a total of 13 children (four boys and nine girls). Nosekeni Fanny, daughter of Nkedama of the Mpemvu Xhosa tribe, in whose homestead Mandela spent most of his childhood, was born to Gadla's third wife ('third' by a complex royal ranking system). His given name, Rolihlahla, means "one who brings trouble upon himself."

Nelson Mandela Education

Rolihlahla Mandela became the first member of his family to attend a school at the age of seven, where a Methodist teacher gave him the name 'Nelson,' after the British admiral Horatio Nelson. When Rolihlahla was nine, his father died of tuberculosis, and the Regent, Jongintaba, became his guardian. Mandela was attending a Wesleyan mission school next door to the Regent's palace. He was initiated at age 16, adopting Thembu tradition, and attended Clarkebury Boarding Institute, learning about Western culture. Instead of the standard three, he completed his Junior Certificate in two years.

In 1937, Mandela moved to Healdtown, the Wesleyan college in Fort Beaufort, which was attended by most Thembu royalty, as he was supposed to inherit the place of his father as a private counselor. He took an interest in boxing and running at the age of nineteen. After registering, he began studying for a B.A. and met Oliver Tambo at Fort Hare University, where the two became lifelong friends and colleagues. He became active in a protest by the Students' Representative Council against university policies at the end of his first year and was forced to leave Fort Hare.

Mandela initially found employment as a guard at a mine upon his arrival in Johannesburg. This was quickly terminated, however, after the employer learned that Mandela was the runaway adopted son of the Regent. Thanks to connections with his friend and fellow lawyer Walter Sisulu, he then managed to find work as a clerk at a law firm. He completed his degree at the University of South Africa (UNISA) through correspondence while working, after which he began his law studies at the University of Witwatersrand. Mandela lived in a township called Alexandra during that time.

About Nelson Mandela Marriage and Family

Nelson Mandela married thrice and had fathered six children, 20 grandchildren, and an increasing number of great-grandchildren. His first marriage was to Evelyn Ntoko Mase, who, like Mandela, was also from what later became South Africa's Transkei region. They first met in Johannesburg.  The couple had two sons, Madiba Thembekile (born 1946) and Makgatho (born 1950), and two daughters, both named Makaziwe (known as Maki; born 1947 and 1953).

Nelson Mandela’s second wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, was also from the Transkei region, even though they also met in Johannesburg, where she was the first black social worker in the city. The marriage bore two daughters, Zenani (Zeni), born on February 4, 1958, and Zindziswa (Zindzi), born in 1960. The union, fuelled by political estrangement, ended in separation (April 1992) and divorce (March 1996).

In 1998, on his 80th birthday, Mandela married Graça Machel, née Simbine, the widow of Samora Machel, a former Mozambican president and an ANC ally killed 12 years earlier in an air crash. His traditional sovereign, King Buyelekhaya Zwelibanzi Dalindyebo, born in 1964, carried out the wedding on Mandela's behalf (which followed months of international negotiations to fix the unparalleled bride price sent to her clan). Ironically, it was the grandfather of this paramount leader, the Regent, whose selection of a bride for him compelled Mandela to flee as a young man to Johannesburg. 

About Nelson Mandela Political Activity

Nelson Mandela was influential in the ANC's 1952 Defiance Movement and the 1955 People's Congress. They adopted the Freedom Charter which provided the basic program of the anti-apartheid cause, after the 1948 election victory of the Afrikaner-dominated National Party with its apartheid racial segregation policy. Nelson Mandela and fellow lawyer Oliver Tambo ran the Mandela and Tambo law firm during this period, offering free or low-cost legal advice to many blacks who would otherwise have been without legal representation.

Initially influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and devoted to non-violent mass struggle, on December 5, 1956, Mandela was arrested and charged with treason along with 150 others. The 1956-1961 marathon Treason Trial followed, and all were acquitted. As a new class of black activists (Africanists) emerged in the townships seeking more drastic action against the National Party government, the ANC witnessed disruption from 1952-1959. Albert Luthuli, Oliver Tambo, and Walter Sisulu's ANC leadership thought not only that events were moving too rapidly, but also that their leadership was being questioned.

The ANC lost its most militant support in 1959 when, under Robert Sobukwe and Potlako Leballo, most of the Africanists, with financial support from Ghana and major political support from the Transvaal-based Basotho, split away to form the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).

Arrest and Imprisonment 

In 1961, Nelson Mandela became the chief of Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation, also abbreviated as MK), the armed wing of the ANC, which he co-founded. He coordinated a campaign of sabotage against military and government objectives and if sabotage failed to end apartheid, made preparations for a future guerrilla war. MK did indeed wage a guerrilla war against the regime a few decades later, especially during the 1980s, in which many civilians were killed. Mandela also collected funds and organized paramilitary training for MK overseas, visiting different African governments.

He was captured after living on the run for 17 months on August 5, 1962, and imprisoned in the Johannesburg Fort. Three days later, at a court appearance, the charges of leading workers to a strike in 1961 and leaving the country illegally were read to him. Mandela was sentenced to five years in prison on October 25, 1962.

On June 11th, 1964, two years later, a verdict was reached concerning his prior participation in the African National Congress (ANC). Nelson Mandela was incarcerated on Robben Island for the next 18 of his 27 years in prison. It was there that he wrote the bulk of his 'Long Walk to Freedom' autobiography. Mandela did not disclose anything in that book about the suspected involvement of President F. W. De Klerk, or the role of his ex-wife Winnie Mandela in the brutality of the 1980s and early 1990s. In Mandela: The Authorized Biography, however, he later cooperated with his friend, journalist Anthony Sampson, who addressed these issues.

Mandela remained in jail rejecting an offer of conditional release in exchange for renouncing armed struggle in February 1985 until concerted ANC and international activism came up with the resounding slogan “Free Nelson Mandela!”. President de Klerk simultaneously ordered the release of Mandela in February 1990 and the revocation of the ANC ban.

Post-apartheid

On April 27, 1994, South Africa's first democratic elections were held in which full enfranchisement was given. In the election, the ANC won the vote, and Nelson Mandela, as ANC leader, was inaugurated as the country's first black president, with de Klerk of the National Party as his deputy president in the National Unity Government.

As South Africa hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup, Nelson Mandela urged black South Africans to get behind the previously despised Springboks (the South African national rugby team). Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok jersey, presented the trophy to captain Francois Pienaar, an Afrikaner after the Springboks had secured an epic final over New Zealand. This has been widely seen as a significant step in white and black South Africans' reconciliation.

It was also during his administration when, with the launch of the SUNSAT satellite in February 1999, South Africa entered the space age. It was developed by Stellenbosch University students and was used primarily to photograph land related to vegetation and forestry issues in South Africa.

Nelson Mandela Awards

Nelson Mandela has received many South African, foreign, and international awards, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, Queen Elizabeth II's Order of Merit and the Order of St. John, and George W. Bush's Presidential Medal of Freedom. In July 2004, during a ceremony in Orlando, Soweto, the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, conferred its highest honor on Mandela by granting him the freedom of the city.

As an indication of his popular international recognition, he had a speaking engagement at the SkyDome in the city of Toronto during his tour of Canada in 1998, where 45,000 school children welcomed him with intense adulation.

He was the first living person to be named an honorary Canadian citizen in 2001.

In 1992, Turkey awarded him the Ataturk Peace Prize. He declined the award, alleging abuses of human rights committed during that period by Turkey, but later accepted the award in 1999. He has also received the Ambassador of Conscience Award from Amnesty International (2006).

Retirement and Death

Nelson Mandela was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer in the summer of 2001. Mandela declared in June 2004, at the age of 85, that he would retire from public life. His health had been deteriorating, and he and his family decided to spend more time. 

He passed away on December 5, 2013, at the age of 95, after suffering from a prolonged respiratory infection. He died, surrounded by his relatives, at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg.

Some facts about Nelson Mandela

From 1994 until 1999, Nelson Mandela served as President of South Africa. He was South Africa's first black president and the first to be elected in a fully representative election.

The leadership of Nelson Mandela concentrated on overthrowing the country's Apartheid government, which had enforced racial segregation through the law.

Nelson Mandela studied law at school and then went on to become one of South Africa's first black lawyers.

He was chosen leader of the African National Congress (ANC) liberation movement's youth section in the 1950s.

Mandela established a hidden military movement after the government banned the ANC for racial reasons. He had previously participated in nonviolent protests, but as the government responded with brutality, he moved on to promote an anti-government movement.

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FAQs on Nelson Mandela Biography

1. When and Where was Nelson Mandela born?

Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, according to his biography. His parents named him Rolihlahla after he was born. This African name was eventually complemented with the English first name Nelson, which was given to him by his teacher, Miss Mdingane, as the name to which he should respond at school. He was born in the Transkei province of South Africa.

2. Why is he also called ‘Madiba’?

Madiba is Nelson Mandela’s clan name, indicating that he was a Madiba clan member (named after an eighteenth-century Thembu tribe chief). "I am commonly addressed as Madiba, my tribal name, as a symbol of respect," Nelson Mandela writes in his autobiography.

3. What is his educational background?

Nelson Mandela began his education at a nearby mission school. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University College of Fort Hare in Alice, Eastern Cape, at the end of 1942. Mandela then enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in early 1943 to pursue a bachelor of law degree, but he never finished it. He chose to take the qualifying exam that would allow him to practice as a full-fledged attorney in 1952 after multiple failed attempts. He graduated from law school in the year 1989.

4. When was Nelson Mandela awarded the Nobel Peace Prize? And why?

Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk, the president of South Africa at the time, shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 "for their work for the peaceful end of the apartheid regime, and for establishing the foundations for a new democratic South Africa." Visit Vedantu To know more about his contribution to the establishment of a democratic republic. 

Nelson Mandela Foundation

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Foundation authorises a definitive documentary series on Nelson Mandela’s life, in his own voice

MANDELA: LIFE [working title] will be an unprecedented and exclusively authorised five-part series founded on Nelson Mandela’s extraordinary life and the most dramatic period in South African history – 1984 to 1994, the ‘deadly decade’ during which thousands of people died in political violence. A decade that began with Nelson Mandela in prison, and ended with him being elected President of South Africa after the country’s first democratic election.

Directed by acclaimed South African film-maker Mandla Dube, the series is uniquely authorised by the Nelson Mandela Foundation with exclusive permission to archivally recreate Nelson Mandela’s voice from his personal archive and to feature previously unreleased material and unpublished letters written by him from prison.

The series has been in development for two years and will be ready for global release on Freedom Day, 27 April 2025, the 31st anniversary of South Africa’s first democratic election.

Thirty years after South Africa transitioned to democracy and a decade after Nelson Mandela’s death, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the official custodian of his personal archive, has granted its long-time creative partner and originating publisher of five books with and about Nelson Mandela, Blackwell & Ruth, exclusive permission to create the series. Blackwell & Ruth is partnering with renowned South African filmmaker Mandla Dube as director, and will co-produce with his production company Pambili Media.

MANDELA: LIFE will be Nelson Mandela’s own story "in his own words, narrated in his voice". Made in collaboration with the archive and research team Nelson Mandela personally authorised in 2004, Verne Harris, Razia Saleh and Sahm Venter, it aims to be the most rigorously researched, in-depth and personal long-form documentary portrait of his life ever produced.

The series will be founded on unique access to an unmatched trove of public and private material assembled by the Nelson Mandela Foundation archival team and Blackwell & Ruth over the past 20 years. It includes significant previously unpublished personal documents written by Mandela in prison, substantial unseen archival film footage, new and original footage, audio recordings, translations of transcripts of secret state recordings and many hundreds of pages of Mandela’s private writing and correspondence, which will provide the basis for a profoundly personal narration.

The series is being created in a world defined by violence, precarity, fundamentalism and division. It is a moment when Nelson Mandela’s story and the dramatic events that unfolded in South Africa from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s can serve to inspire a new generation to believe that even the deepest generational division and hatred can be overcome by representative and ethical leadership, and by people standing up bravely in the pursuit of justice and a more compassionate world.

World rights are available and represented by Dogwoof, who will launch the project at the Cannes Marche Du Film this month.

Verne Harris, Acting Chief Executive, Nelson Mandela Foundation

Verne Harris

“This will be the first documentary or documentary series that we’ve authorised as the Nelson Mandela Foundation and in revisiting his life, especially with the challenge of surfacing his voice, we have authorised the use of archival materials to translate what he wrote to himself into a voice that people can hear.”

Verne Harris, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Nelson Mandela Foundation

“For the Nelson Mandela Foundation this series allows us to share with the world the contents of archival material that very often we’ve been searching for for many years, and have now found; content in Nelson Mandela’s own words which is very rich and offers new insights into his life.”

Kneo Mokgopa, Narrative Development Manager, Nelson Mandela Foundation

Kneo Mokgopa2023

“The significance of South Africans telling this story is hugely important. This is a precious story. It’s important. It’s needed. Especially in these times when we’re looking around the world and leadership is missing, here we have a story that tells us how incredible leadership can come from the most dire circumstances.”

Mandla Dube – Director, MANDELA: LIFE

1 Mandlakayise Walter Dube Jr Director MANDELA LIFE

“We are decolonising the lens and the framework of who Nelson Mandela was. There are certain nuances and subtleties that we haven’t seen in films made by international filmmakers about Nelson Mandela, because there’s a certain voice that comes with being a child of the soil.”

“If one looks at the books that have been published about Nelson Mandela, the movies, previous documentaries, whatever the intentions of the creators might have been, overwhelmingly they are a mediation of Black South African experience by white voices, very often not South African. And so, for us it’s really important that the work we’re about to embark on is driven by a Black South African and that the team is a South African team that has a particular ear for that voice that we’re trying to listen to and share with the world.”

“When I first heard the recreated voice, I was expecting a reenactment, maybe an actor, but to hear him speaking in the way his voice has been recreated gave me literal physical chills. Hearing him meant the world for me.”

The following people are available for interview

Verne Harris – Acting Chief Executive, Nelson Mandela Foundation Mandla Dube – Director, MANDELA: LIFE Razia Saleh – Head: Archive & Research, Nelson Mandela Foundation Kneo Mokgopa – Narrative Development Manager, Nelson Mandela Foundation

For further details or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Tshepang Motsekuoa Head: Communications & Marketing Nelson Mandela Foundation: Phone: +27 63 609 6600 Email: [email protected]

Download supplied images here

MANDELA: LIFE

Authorised by the Nelson Mandela Foundation A Blackwell & Ruth and Pambilimedia production Director: Mandlakayise Walter Dube, Jr. Producers: Mandlakayise Walter Dube, Jr., Geoff Blackwell, Ruth Hobday Editors: Diliza Moabi, Elizabeth Blackwell Principal Researcher: Sahm Venter Production Supervisor: Sydney Masina Acting Chief Executive, Nelson Mandela Foundation: Verne Harris Head of Archive & Research for the Nelson Mandela Foundation: Razia Saleh Manager Narrative Development, Nelson Mandela Foundation: Kneo Mokgopa

MANDELA: LIFE is represented worldwide by Dogwoof Contact: Cleo Veger, Head Of Sales E: [email protected]

Biographies

Mandlakayise Walter Dube, Jr – Director

Born in Mabopane, South Africa, Mandlakayise Walter Dube, Jr is the director of the Heart of the Hunter , the adaptation of Deon Meyer’s novel and the first film in a recently announced multi-project deal with Netflix. The film made history when it debuted at #1 globally in March 2024 and remained in the top ten for several weeks on the Netflix platform. Dube also directed the hit Netflix film Silverton Siege , an action thriller inspired by the real -ife incident that sparked the global ‘Free Mandela’ movement, and the feature film Kalushi , also on Netflix.

Dube’s diverse body of work includes documentaries, short films, theatre, feature films and episodic series. He directed numerous episodes of the hit Netflix series Jiva! and both seasons of the documentary series Echoes in the Valley of the Mapungbwe and is about to direct an episode of the upcoming series King Shaka and two episodes of The Great War for Radical Media/History Channel.

Dube has just announced a financial investment from the Industrial Corporation of South Africa (IDC) for a six-picture slate with Dube’s production company, Pambilimedia.

Dube obtained a Master of Fine Arts in cinematography from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. His work in feature films as camera operator and camera assistant include The Italian Job , Men in Black II , Money Monster , Drop Squad , Umthunzi we Ntaba , Badger , Sunset Tuxedo , As I Am and A Single Rose , and he was cinematographer on the multi-award- winning docudrama, Sobukwe: A Great Soul . He is a member of the DGA.

Dube is represented by Alta Global Media Contact: [email protected]

Verne Harris – Acting Chief Executive, Nelson Mandela Foundation

Verne Harris is Acting Chief Executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation. He was Mandela’s archivist from 2004 to 2013, directed the Foundation’s archives programme for 15 years and the dialogue and advocacy programme for five years. He is an adjunct professor at Nelson Mandela University, served in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and is a former Deputy Director of the National Archives. He has authored or co-authored six books, the most recent one being Ghosts of Archive (2021). He is the recipient of honorary doctorates from the University of Cordoba, Argentina (2014) and the University of Pretoria, South Africa (2023) and held the Follet Chair at Dominican University, Chicago (2018–19). He has received archival publication awards from Australia, Canada and South Africa, and both his novels were short-listed for South Africa’s M-Net Book Prize. He was a selection panel member for Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity (2017–22) and has served on the boards of Archival Science, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, the Freedom of Expression Institute and the South African History Archive.

Razia Saleh – Head: Archive & Research, Nelson Mandela Foundation

Razia Saleh heads the Archive and Research department at the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Before this she was the archivist at the African National Congress (ANC) overseeing the arrangement and description of ANC archives produced in exile. Razia has long worked in archives since she helped establish the South African History Archive (SAHA) to archive the material produced by anti-apartheid organisations active within South Africa in the 1980s. She has a Master’s degree in archival studies from the University of London and is a board member of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, established by the struggle stalwart. Kathrada was sentenced to life imprisonment during the Rivonia trial together with Nelson Mandela and others.

Kneo Mokgopa – Narrative Development Manager, Nelson Mandela Foundation

Kneo Mokgopa (they/he), LLB. is the Narrative Development Manager at the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Kneo holds a law degree from the University of Cape Town and is a Thought Fellow at the Centre for Creative & Critical Thought at the University of Stellenbosch. Kneo serves on Section 11 Committee on the National Question and Anti- Racism, hosted by the South African Human Rights Commission, and they are a widely published writer with a regular column in the Daily Maverick , titled “Unthere” where they explore the nature of the boundaries between human and object in post-Apartheid South Africa.

Geoff Blackwell – Series Creator & Producer

Geoff Blackwell is an award-winning publisher, author, photographer and filmmaker. He was an originating publisher for Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu and has conceived and developed numerous best-selling books, international exhibitions, and film projects principally focused on humanity, equality and the environment. His most notable personal projects include M.I.L.K.: Moments of Intimacy, Laughter and Kinship ; 200 Women: Who Will Change the Way You See the World ; mewe: Love, Humanity and Us ; Human Nature: Planet Earth In Our Time ; and I Know This to Be True , a series made in collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Foundation focussed on leaders that became the basis for the Netflix documentary series Live to Lead that he also created and directed.

Ruth Hobday – Producer

Ruth Hobday has been the principal producer for Blackwell & Ruth projects for over two decades. She has originated and edited a number of award-winning books, five of them by the late Nelson Mandela including New York Times bestseller Conversations with Myself , and the Great Cookbook series which was published in five editions and has generated over $1 million for food security initiatives, and she co-authored 200 Women: Who Will Change the Way You See the World and Human Nature: Planet Earth In Our Time . She has produced numerous international exhibitions and events, and was producer for the Netflix documentary series Live to Lead presented by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and made in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

About Blackwell & Ruth

Founded by Geoff Blackwell and Ruth Hobday, Blackwell & Ruth has worked with the Nelson Mandela Foundation for two decades and was the originating publisher of five books by and about Nelson Mandela. Collectively these titles have sold over 3 million copies in 40 languages. Blackwell & Ruth has won numerous international awards for its publishing work and is also a creator of international film and exhibition projects.

www.blackwellandruth.com

About Phambili Media

Pambili Media as a creative agency of stories has conceptualized and embarked upon a conglomeration of narratives. The vision is to nourish the youth of South Africa’s indigenous background and celebrate the victories the country has accomplished. The entities in partnership have identified a gap in the market; namely, the need for African entertainment-based heritage content, a practice that is scarcely interrogated and applied in South Africa. The company’s interests are mainly in advancing Africa’s Heritage and Cultural History through media.

https://pambilimedia.com

About Dogwoolf

Dogwoof is a London-based documentary film company integrating production, sales, and theatrical distribution. Dogwoof has so far released 34 Oscar-nominated documentaries, with six wins and an additional five BAFTA winners; notable titles include 2024 Oscar- winning and BAFTA-winning 20 Days In Mariupol , 2023 Oscar-winning and BAFTA- winning Navalny , Oscar-winning and BAFTA-winning Free Solo , BAFTA-nominated Apollo 11 , Oscar and BAFTA-nominated Fire of Love and All That Breathes , BAFTA-winning The Act of Killing , and Blackfish .

https://readymag.website/u3453254613/4585265/

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LONG WALK TO FREEDOM The Autobiography of NELSON MANDELA Little, Brown and Company

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