Born July 18, 1918
Umtata, South Africa
Political activist and former president of South Africa
Nelson Mandela stands as an icon of courage, justice, and perseverance to people in South Africa and throughout the world. Imprisoned in 1964 for treason, stemming from his activities with the banned African National Congress (ANC), Mandela maintained his dignity behind bars and became an international symbol of human rights. Throughout the 1980s the rallying cry “Free Mandela” resounded on city streets and college campuses everywhere.
Mandela was freed in 1990, as a result of the tremendous economic and political pressure placed on the South African government by the international community. He resumed leadership of the ANC and, after a triumphant speaking and fund-raising tour across three continents, entered into talks with President F. W. deKlerk regarding the future of South Africa. The result was the dismantling of apartheid (the form of government based on racial segregation and discrimination) and the establishment of South Africa’s first multiracial elections. In 1994 Mandela became the first president of a free South Africa. He retired from that position in 1999.
Nelson Mandela was born into a highly respected family in the rural region of Umtata (later renamed the Transkei homeland—homelands were places into which blacks were forced to move).
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