Biography of Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela's life

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (born Rolihlahla Dalibhunga) was born in South Africa in 1918 and died in 2013. He was a political activist and freedom fighter, as well as the first President in South Africa after the fall of apartheid.

Mandela's father was chief of the Madiba tribe, and after his death Mandela was raised by the royal Thembu family. As an adult Mandela renounced his claim to his father's position as chief and left his home to avoid a forced marriage. Instead he studied law at the university.

In 1944 Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC), an organisation which fought for equal rights for black people in South Africa. At the time, South Africa was largely controlled by a strong, white upper class, and in 1948 the apartheid regime was instated. 

Mandela organised a number of peaceful protest campaigns during the early years of apartheid. However, following a massacre in which many black protestors were killed, Mandela gave up the idea of purely peaceful protests. In 1960, he played a...