Nelson Mandela

July 18, 1918 – December 5, 2013 · Statesman · South Africa

“It always seems impossible until it's done”

Anti-apartheid leader who spent 27 years in prison and emerged to become South Africa's first democratically elected president, guiding his nation toward reconciliation.

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Their story

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in 1918 in the village of Mvezo in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Raised in the Thembu royal household, he studied law and moved to Johannesburg, where he encountered the daily injustices of racial segregation. In 1944 he joined the African National Congress and helped found its Youth League, beginning a lifelong commitment to equality and human dignity.

As apartheid laws hardened, Mandela led campaigns of defiance and was repeatedly arrested. In 1964, at the Rivonia Trial, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. He spent 27 years behind bars, much of it on Robben Island, becoming a global symbol of resistance to injustice. From his cell he continued to negotiate, insisting that freedom for some was incomplete without freedom for all.

Released in 1990, Mandela chose reconciliation over retribution. He shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and was elected president of South Africa in 1994 in the country's first fully democratic election. He served a single term, then devoted himself to charitable work and peacemaking. His legacy endures as proof that patience, forgiveness, and moral courage can transform a nation.

A life in moments

1918
Born in Mvezo, a village in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.
1944
Joined the African National Congress and co-founded its Youth League.
1964
Sentenced to life imprisonment at the Rivonia Trial.
1990
Released from prison after 27 years of incarceration.
1993
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with F. W. de Klerk.
1994
Elected South Africa's first democratically chosen president.
Today
Remembered worldwide as a symbol of reconciliation, dignity, and the long walk to freedom.