Nelson Mandela, also known as Madiba and "the Father of the Nation," was the 11th president of South Africa, holding office from 1994 to 1999. He was the first person of color to gain this position, and his was the first democratic election for the country. His rise to office is even more significant considering that it came after a 27-year imprisonment for treason. Largely credited as having ended apartheid in this region, he is internationally recognized as a leader of economic and social reforms and has received hundreds of significant awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize.
Early Life and Education
On 18 July 1918 in Mvezo, Umtatu, Rolihlahla "Nelson" Mandela was born to Gadia Henry Mphakanyiswa and Nosekeni Fanny. Gadia served as court councilor to the Thembu king — his grandfather had been king of the Thembu Dynasty — and Mandela was one of the 13 children he had by keeping four wives in different villages. As a boy, he grew up with his mother and two sisters in Qunu, where he lived a very simple life playing with other boys and looking after cattle herds.
Although his father was a follower of Quamata, a god worshiped commonly in southeastern South Africa, his mother was Methodist, and he was raised in the Christian faith and began his education at Wesleyan Mission School when he was seven years old. It was while at this facility that he gained the name "Nelson," which a teacher reportedly gave him because she couldn't say his real forename properly, and because British influences made it fairly customary for academic leaders to give new titles to the children they taught. As was common for the time, he was the first of his family to go to school.
At the age of nine, Gadia died, and out of respect, Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo and his wife, Noengland, adopted Mandela to give him a chance at a better life. His mother took him to live in the "Great Palace" in Mqhekezweni, where he continued his studies and had the same duties and expectations as the chief's other children, Nomafu and Justice. He took only two years to finish the three-year Junior Certificate program at the Clarkbury Boarding Institute. Although it was at this institution that he socialized and learned a great deal about African history and Western culture, he still believed at this point that his destiny was to follow Jongintaba's wishes and become a councilor, and he was, by his own later admission, narrow-minded toward Thembuland.
Life as a Young Adult
In 1937, 19-year-old Mandela began attending Healdtown in Fort Beaufort, which was Methodist school that Thembu royalty traditionally attended. He then moved to the University of Fort Hare in Alice, Eastern Cape, to try to get a Bachelor of Arts degree, focusing on law. While there, he was involved in several protests, including one regarding the quality of the food served, and he ended up leaving before completing his degree.
Returning to his guardian family, he discovered that Jongintaba had arranged for him to be married, and in distress, he ran away to Johannesburg in 1941. He completed his bachelor's degree in 1943 using correspondence classes through the University of South Africa (UNISA), working simultaneously as a law clerk, and he became friends with members of both the Communist Party and the African National Congress (ANC). He participated in his first ANC march during this time. Although those close to him still urged him toward being a councilor, he chose to continue his law studies at the University of Witwatersrand.
As his involvement with ANC grew, Mandela recognized the need to involve African youth in the movement toward equality and freedom. He was instrumental in the formation of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL), which officially was started in 1944. During the same year, he married Evelyn Ntoko Mase. He and Evelyn had four children: Mandiba "Thembi" Thembekile, Makaziwe (died in infancy), Makaziwe Phumba (named in honor of the first Makaziwe) and Makgatho Mandela. His main place of work was the Terblanche and Briggish law firm for several years, but eventually, he teamed with long-time friend, Oliver Tambo, to form his own firm, Mandela and Tambo, South Africa's first black legal practice.
Apartheid was a way of life in the 1950s, given the political climate of South Africa. He and Tambo gave pro bono and reduced cost legal help to blacks. They were also involved in the cause against apartheid, believing that blacks and whites should not be segregated. Their actions and views brought them significant criticism from the government, eventually causing them to lose their operating permit and requiring them to move the business.
Middle Life and Activism
Members of the government watched Mandela's activities closely in the first few years of the 1950s, trying to ban him from public appearances as his popularity, influence and involvement in political protests grew. They arrested him, along with a group of anti-apartheid supporters, in 1956, but after a lengthy trial, the whole group was acquitted. The strain of these conflicts, along with personality and religious differences, strained his marriage, and Evelyn filed for divorce. She withdrew the filing, but he refiled and completed the proceedings in 1958. Just three months after the divorce was finalized, he married Winnie Madikizela, with whom he had two daughters, Zanani (Zani) and Zindziswa Mandela-Hlongwane.
As peaceful tactics were not successful and the opposition's violence was only getting worse, Mandela soon gave up on non-violent protests. Seeing no other choice, he led an armed division of the ANC, Umkhonto we Sizwe, or Spear of the Nation. His aggressive strategy amounted to human rights violations, since the guerrilla warfare by the ANC killed many civilians, but he insisted it was the only way to end apartheid.
Imprisonment
Government authorities arrested Mandela for leading a worker's strike in 1962, and he and several other men were charged with sabotage in 1963. He was convicted and sent to Robben Island, where he would spend a majority of his 27 years in prison. During this time, he continued working on his legal studies and debated issues with other political prisoners. He also found ways to maintain many of his communications with the ANC, and over time, the international demand for his freedom grew.
Pro-apartheid South African president, P.W. Botha, offered to set him free in 1985, but only on the condition that he would stop the armed conflict. He would not agree to this. Botha had a stroke in 1989, and his replacement, Frederik Willem de Klerk, arranged for Mandela to be let go. He was released 2 February 1990.
Rise to Presidency
After he got out of prison, Mandela toured multiple countries in opposition to apartheid and became president of the ANC in 1991, taking over for Tambo, whose health was not good. Through his influence, he worked to unify the organization, at the same time negotiating for an end to violent protests. As part of these negotiations, he was able to arrange for a multi-racial general election, and after running a campaign against de Klerk, he was elected as the first black president of South Africa in 1994. Those who attended the May inauguration included political figures such as Hilary Clinton, Yassar Arafat and Fidel Castro, with billions watching via television worldwide.
During his time as president, Mandela implemented many social reforms, ending apartheid once and for all while assuring whites that they were welcome and needed in the country. He lobbied for changes such as better education, increased welfare aid, implementation of more water and electricity systems and additional housing construction. Various grants and pensions also were part of his work, and he established the 1998 Skills Development and Employment Equity Acts, which fought discrimination and helped people learn what they needed to succeed in the workplace.
Although Winnie had stayed married to Mandela through his entire imprisonment, she held even more radical political views, and she was put on trial and found guilty for participation in kidnapping and assaults. She also was rumored to have been unfaithful. These elements drove the couple apart, and they separated in 1992 during the heart of his ANC reorganization. Their divorce was finalized in 1996, two years after he came to power.
Post-Presidency Activities
Upon leaving the presidency, Mandela continued to work for the social and economic good of South Africa. He established the Nelson Mandela Foundation, as well as several scholarship programs, and he worked to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS. It was common for him to meet with celebrities and world political leaders. At the age of 80, he married for the third time in 1998 to Graça Machel. He remains an important political figure, not only in South African history, but in international affairs.