Nelson Mandela remains one of the world's most revered statesman, who led the struggle to replace the apartheid regime of South Africa with a multi-racial democracy.
Despite many years in jail, he emerged to become the country's first black president and to play a leading role in the drive for peace in other spheres of conflict. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
Since stepping
down as president in 1999, Mr Mandela has become South Africa's highest-profile
ambassador, campaigning against HIV/Aids and securing his country's right to
host the 2010 football World Cup.
Mr. Mandela has also been actively involved in peace negotiations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and other African countries.
He joined the African National Congress in 1943, first as an activist, then as the founder and president of the ANC Youth League.Eventually, after years in prison, he also served as its president.
Mr. Mandela has also been actively involved in peace negotiations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and other African countries.
He joined the African National Congress in 1943, first as an activist, then as the founder and president of the ANC Youth League.Eventually, after years in prison, he also served as its president.
Mr Mandela qualified as a lawyer and
in 1952 opened a law practice in Johannesburg with his partner, Oliver Tambo.
Together, Mandela and Tambo campaigned against apartheid, the system devised by
the all-white National Party which oppressed the black majority. In 1956, Mr
Mandela was charged with high treason, along with 155 other activists, but the
charges against him were dropped after a four-year trial.
The ANC was outlawed in 1960 and Nelson Mandela went underground. Tension with the apartheid regime grew, and soared to new heights in 1960 when 69 black people were shot dead by police in the Sharpeville massacre. It was the end of peaceful resistance and Mr. Mandela, already national vice-president of the ANC, launched a campaign of sabotage against the country's economy. He was eventually arrested and charged with sabotage and attempting to violently overthrow the government. Conducting his own defence, Mr Mandela used the stand to convey his beliefs about democracy, freedom and equality. "I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities," he said. "It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." In the winter of 1964 he was sentenced to life in prison.
He remained in prison on Robben Island for 18 years before being
transferred to Pollsmoor Prison on the mainland in 1982.
In 1980, Mr. Tambo, who was in exile, launched an international campaign to release Mr Mandela. The world community tightened the sanctions first imposed on South Africa in 1967 against the apartheid regime. The pressure produced results, and in 1990, President FW de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC, and Mandela was released from prison.
In December 1993, Mandela and de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Five months later, for the first time in South Africa's history, all races voted in democratic elections and Nelson Mandela was elected president.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation develops initiatives that advance the understanding of social change and human development, with particular attention on making a difference on the HIV/AIDS issue and improving the situation of children in rural schools.
http://www.nelsonmandela.org
The ANC was outlawed in 1960 and Nelson Mandela went underground. Tension with the apartheid regime grew, and soared to new heights in 1960 when 69 black people were shot dead by police in the Sharpeville massacre. It was the end of peaceful resistance and Mr. Mandela, already national vice-president of the ANC, launched a campaign of sabotage against the country's economy. He was eventually arrested and charged with sabotage and attempting to violently overthrow the government. Conducting his own defence, Mr Mandela used the stand to convey his beliefs about democracy, freedom and equality. "I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities," he said. "It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." In the winter of 1964 he was sentenced to life in prison.
In 1980, Mr. Tambo, who was in exile, launched an international campaign to release Mr Mandela. The world community tightened the sanctions first imposed on South Africa in 1967 against the apartheid regime. The pressure produced results, and in 1990, President FW de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC, and Mandela was released from prison.
In December 1993, Mandela and de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Five months later, for the first time in South Africa's history, all races voted in democratic elections and Nelson Mandela was elected president.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation develops initiatives that advance the understanding of social change and human development, with particular attention on making a difference on the HIV/AIDS issue and improving the situation of children in rural schools.
http://www.nelsonmandela.org
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