Nelson Mandela

About the author

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918–2013) stands as one of the twentieth century's defining figures: an anti-apartheid revolutionary who emerged from 27 years of imprisonment to become South Africa's first Black president and its first head of state elected in a fully representative democratic election. Born into the Thembu royal family in Mvezo, he trained as a lawyer before joining the African National Congress in 1943 and co-founding its Youth League. An African nationalist and socialist, he co-founded the militant uMkhonto we Sizwe in 1961 and was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment.

His presidency, from 1994 to 1999, focused on dismantling apartheid's legacy through racial reconciliation and multiracial democracy.