Biographies: A02110 - Nelson Mandela, South Africa's First Black President: Part One

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His Excellency Nelson Mandela OMP SBG SBS CLS DMG MMS MMB OM
Mandela in 1994
1st President of South Africa
In office 10 May 1994 – 14 June 1999
Deputy	Frederik Willem de Klerk (1994–1996) Thabo Mbeki (1994–1999)
Preceded by	F. W. de Klerk (as state president)
Succeeded by	Thabo Mbeki
President of the African National Congress
In office 7 July 1991 – 20 December 1997
Deputy	Walter Sisulu (1991–1994) Thabo Mbeki (1994–1997)
Preceded by	Oliver Tambo
Succeeded by	Thabo Mbeki
Deputy President of the African National Congress
In office May 1985 – 7 July 1991
President	Oliver Tambo
Preceded by	Oliver Tambo
Succeeded by	Walter Sisulu
In office December 1952 – 1958
President	Albert Luthuli
Preceded by	Walter Rubusana (1936)
Succeeded by	Oliver Tambo
Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement
In office 2 September 1998 – 14 June 1999
Preceded by	Andrés Pastrana Arango
Succeeded by	Thabo Mbeki
Personal details
Born	Rolihlahla Mandela 18 July 1918 Mvezo, South Africa
Died	5 December 2013 (aged 95) Johannesburg, South Africa
Resting place	Mandela Graveyard, Qunu
Party	African National Congress
Other political affiliations	South African Communist Party (Tripartite Alliance)
Spouses	Evelyn Mase (m. 1944; div. 1958) Winifred Madikizela (m. 1958; div. 1996) Graça Simbine (m. 1998)
Children	6, including Makgatho, Maki, Zenani, and Zindziswa
Relatives	Mandela family
Education	University of Fort Hare University of London University of South Africa University of the Witwatersrand
Occupation	Politician lawyer activist philanthropist
Known for	Anti-apartheid activism
Awards	Full list
Signature
Website	Nelson Mandela Foundation
Nicknames	Madiba Tata Dalibunga
Criminal information
Criminal status	Released
Convictions	Sabotage and conspiracy against the state
Criminal penalty	27 years of imprisonment (life sentence)
Wanted by	Government of South Africa
Date apprehended	5 August 1962
Imprisoned at	Robben Island (1964–1982) Pollsmoor Prison (1982–1988) Victor Verster Prison (1988–1990)

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Nelson Mandela, in full Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, byname Madiba (b. July 18, 1918 - d. December 5, 2013), black nationalist and first black president of South Africa (1994–99). His negotiations in the early 1990s with South African President F.W. de Klerk helped end the country’s apartheid system of racial segregation and ushered in a peaceful transition to majority rule. Mandela and de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993 for their efforts.

The son of Chief Henry Mandela of the Madiba clan of the Xhosa-speaking Tembu people, Nelson Mandela renounced his claim to the chieftainship to become a lawyer. He attended South African Native College (later the University of Fort Hare) and studied law at the University of the Witwatersrand. He later passed the qualification exam to become a lawyer. In 1944, he joined the African National Congress (ANC), a black-liberation group, and became a leader of its Youth League. That same year he met and married Evelyn Ntoko Mase. Mandela subsequently held other ANC leadership positions, through which he helped revitalize the organization and oppose the apartheid policies of the ruling National Party.

In 1952, in Johannesburg with fellow ANC leader Oliver Tambo, Mandela established South Africa’s first black law practice, specializing in cases resulting from the post-1948 apartheid legislation. Also that year, Mandela played an important role in launching a campaign of defiance against South Africa’s pass laws, which required nonwhites to carry documents (known as passes, pass books, or reference books) authorizing their presence in areas that the government deemed “restricted” (i.e., generally reserved for the white population). He traveled throughout the country as part of the campaign, trying to build support for nonviolent means of protest against the discriminatory laws. In 1955, he was involved in drafting the Freedom Charter, a document calling for nonracial social democracy in South Africa. His anti-apartheid activism made him a frequent target of the authorities. In March 1956, he was banned (severely restricted in travel, association, and speech), and in December he was arrested with more than 100 other people on charges of treason that were designed to harass anti-apartheid activists. Mandela went on trial that same year and eventually was acquitted in 1961. During the extended court proceedings, he divorced his first wife and married Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela (Winnie Madikizela-Mandela).

After the massacre of unarmed black South Africans by police forces at Sharpeville in 1960 and the subsequent banning of the ANC, Mandela abandoned his non-violent stance and began advocating acts of sabotage against the South African regime. He went underground (during which time he became known as the Black Pimpernel for his ability to evade capture) and was one of the founders of Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”), the military wing of the ANC. In 1962 he went to Algeria for training in guerrilla warfare and sabotage, returning to South Africa later that year. On August 5, shortly after his return, Mandela was arrested at a road block in Natal. He was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison.

In October 1963, the imprisoned Mandela and several other men were tried for sabotage, treason, and violent conspiracy in the infamous Rivonia Trial, named after a fashionable suburb of Johannesburg where raiding police had discovered quantities of arms and equipment at the headquarters of the underground Umkhonto we Sizwe. Mandela’s speech from the dock, in which he admitted the truth of some of the charges made against him, was a classic defense of liberty and defiance of tyranny. (His speech garnered international attention and acclaim and was published later that year as I Am Prepared to Die.) On June 12, 1964, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, narrowly escaping the death penalty.

From 1964 to 1982 Mandela was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison, off Cape Town. He was subsequently kept at the maximum-security Pollsmoor Prison until 1988, when, after being treated for tuberculosis, he was transferred to Victor Verster Prison near Paarl. The South African government periodically made conditional offers of freedom to Mandela, most notably in 1976, on the condition that he recognize the newly independent—and highly controversial—status of the Transkei Bantustan and agree to reside there. An offer made in 1985 required that he renounce the use of violence. Mandela refused both offers, the second on the premise that only free men were able to engage in such negotiations and, as a prisoner, he was not a free man.

Throughout his incarceration, Mandela retained wide support among South Africa’s black population, and his imprisonment became a cause célèbre among the international community that condemned apartheid. As South Africa’s political situation deteriorated after 1983, and particularly after 1988, he was engaged by ministers of President P.W. Botha’s government in exploratory negotiations. He met with Botha’s successor, de Klerk, in December 1989.

On February 11, 1990, the South African government under President de Klerk released Mandela from prison. Shortly after his release, Mandela was chosen deputy president of the ANC. He became president of the party in July 1991. Mandela led the ANC in negotiations with de Klerk to end apartheid and bring about a peaceful transition to non-racial democracy in South Africa.

In April 1994, the Mandela led ANC won South Africa’s first elections by universal suffrage, and on May 10 Mandela was sworn in as president of the country’s first multi-ethnic government. He established in 1995 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which investigated human rights violations under apartheid, and he introduced housing, education, and economic development initiatives designed to improve the living standards of the country’s black population. In 1996, he oversaw the enactment of a new democratic constitution. Mandela resigned his post with the ANC in December 1997, transferring leadership of the party to his designated successor, Thabo Mbeki. Mandela and Madikizela-Mandela had divorced in 1996, and in 1998 Mandela married Graca Machel, the widow of Samora Machel, the former Mozambican president and leader of Frelimo.

Mandela did not seek a second term as South African president and was succeeded by Mbeki in 1999. After leaving office Mandela retired from active politics but maintained a strong international presence as an advocate of peace, reconciliation, and social justice, often through the work of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, established in 1999. He was a founding member of the Elders, a group of international leaders established in 2007 for the promotion of conflict resolution and problem solving throughout the world. In 2008, Mandela was feted with several celebrations in South Africa, Great Britain, and other countries in honor of his 90th birthday. Mandela Day, observed on Mandela’s birthday, was created to honor his legacy by promoting community service around the world. It was first observed on July 18, 2009, and was sponsored primarily by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the 46664 initiative (the foundation’s HIV/AIDS global awareness and prevention campaign); later that year the United Nations declared that the day would be observed annually as Nelson Mandela International Day.

Mandela’s writings and speeches were collected in I Am Prepared to Die (1964; rev. ed. 1986), No Easy Walk to Freedom (1965; updated ed. 2002), The Struggle Is My Life (1978; rev. ed. 1990), and In His Own Words (2003). His autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, was published in 1994.

In 2024, 14 locations within South Africa that were symbolic of Mandela’s life and the country’s struggle for human rights, liberation, and reconciliation were collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. The locations include the Great Place at Mqhekezweni, where Mandela was raised after his father’s death; multiple sites related to the 1960 Sharpeville massacre; the streets of Orlando West, the epicenter of the 1976 Soweto Uprising; and the Union Buildings in Pretoria, now the country’s seat of government.

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Quotes from Nelson Mandela

“Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people.”
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
“I like friends who have independent minds because they tend to make you see problems from all angles.”
“Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
“It is not our diversity which divides us; it is not our ethnicity, or religion or culture that divides us. Since we have achieved our freedom, there can only be one division amongst us: between those who cherish democracy and those who do not.”
“A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy.”

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Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) was a South African black nationalist who spent 27 years in prison for fighting against the country’s discriminatory apartheid system of racial segregation. His negotiations in the early 1990s with South African Pres. F.W. de Klerk helped bring an end to apartheid and ushered in a peaceful transition to majority rule. Mandela served as president (1994–99) of the country’s first multiethnic government. Here are some of his best quotes.

“Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people.”
“A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of.”
“Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”
“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.”
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
“Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.”
“I like friends who have independent minds because they tend to make you see problems from all angles.”
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
“Many people in this country have paid the price before me and many will pay the price after me.”
“Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
“Money won’t create success, the freedom to make it will.”
“It is in the character of growth that we should learn from both pleasant and unpleasant experiences.”
“It is not our diversity which divides us; it is not our ethnicity, or religion or culture that divides us. Since we have achieved our freedom, there can only be one division amongst us: between those who cherish democracy and those who do not.”
“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.”
“A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy. The press must be free from state interference. It must have the economic strength to stand up to the blandishments of government officials. It must have sufficient independence from vested interests to be bold and inquiring without fear or favour. It must enjoy the protection of the constitution, so that it can protect our rights as citizens.”

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Nelson Mandela's quotes inspire resilience, courage, and the pursuit of justice, reflecting his profound wisdom and commitment to equality.

Inspirational Quotes by Nelson Mandela

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Encyclopedia Britannica+1
"It always seems impossible until it’s done." Parade+1
"Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again." Encyclopedia Britannica+1
"Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies." Encyclopedia Britannica+1
"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it." A-Z Quotes+1
"What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead." A-Z Quotes+1
"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." Parade+1
"It is in your hands to create a better world for all who live in it." A-Z Quotes+1

Themes in Mandela's Quotes

Courage and Resilience: Mandela often spoke about overcoming fear and the importance of perseverance in the face of adversity.
Education and Empowerment: He emphasized the transformative power of education as a means to achieve social change.
Justice and Equality: Many of his quotes reflect his lifelong commitment to fighting against injustice and advocating for equality.
These quotes encapsulate Mandela's philosophy and serve as a source of inspiration for many around the world. His words continue to resonate, encouraging individuals to strive for a better future and to act with compassion and integrity.

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