Nelson Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born July 18, 1918 and died December 5, 2013. He was a nonviolence anti-apartheid activist, political leader, and philanthropist who became the first black president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. Nelson Mandela joined the African National Congress in 1942, after becoming actively involved in the anti-apartheid movement. He was arrested and imprisoned in 1962. Mandela served 27 years in the prison, split between Robben Island, Pollsmoor Prison, and Victor Verster Prison for political offenses. President F.W de Klerk released him in 1990. In 1993, Nelson Mandela and the South African president F.W de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to dismantle the county’s apartheid system. He died at the age of 95, after suffering from a prolonged respiratory infection. The death happened at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg, South Africa. Today Mandela is a source of inspiration for civil rights activists worldwide. In South Africa he is described as the “Father of the Nation”.