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Nelson Mandela biography

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Quick Facts

  • NAME: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
  • OCCUPATION: World Leader, Journalist
  • BIRTH DATE: July 18, 1918 (Age: 93)
  • EDUCATION: Clarkebury Boarding Institute, Healdtown, Fort Hare University, University of London External Programme
  • PLACE OF BIRTH: Transkei, South Africa
  • Originally: Rolihlahla Mandela
  • ZODIAC SIGN: Cancer
more about Nelson

Best Known For

Nelson Mandela was a leader of the anti-apartheid movement who eventually became South Africa's first president to be elected in a fully democratic election.

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Synopsis

Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918 in Transkei, South Africa. He became actively involved in the anti-apartheid movement and joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1942. For 20 years, he directed a campaign of peaceful, non-violent defiance against the South African government and its racist policies. In 1994 he was inaugurated as the country's first black president.

Quotes

"With freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended."
– Nelson Mandela

"I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended."
– Nelson Mandela

"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."
– Nelson Mandela

"If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner."
– Nelson Mandela

"Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished."
– Nelson Mandela

"I was made, by the law, a criminal, not because of what I had done, but because of what I stood for, because of what I thought, because of my conscience.”
– Nelson Mandela

Early Life

Born Rolihlahla Mandela on July 18, 1918 in Transkei, South Africa, in the tiny village of Mvezo on the banks of the Mbashe River in the province of Transkei. "Rolihlahla" in the language of Xhosa literally means "pulling the branch of a tree," but more commonly means "troublemaker."

Mandela's father was destined to be a chief and for years served as a counselor to tribal chiefs. But over a dispute with the local colonial magistrate, he lost his title and his fortune. Rolihlahla was only an infant at the time and the loss of status forced his mother to move the family to Qunu, an even smaller village north of Mvezo. The village was nestled in a narrow grassy valley. There were no roads, only foot paths that linked the pastures where livestock grazed. The family lived in huts and ate a local harvest of maize, sorghum, pumpkin, and beans, which was all the family could afford. Water came from springs and streams and cooking was done outdoors. Nelson played the games of young boys, acting out male rights-of -passage scenarios with toys he made himself from the natural materials available, tree branches and clay.

At the suggestion of one of Rolihlahla's father's friends, he was baptized into the Methodist church and became the first in his family to attend school. As was the custom at the time, and probably due to the bias of the British educational system in South Africa, his teacher told him that his new first name would be "Nelson."

Nelson Mandela's father died of lung disease when Nelson was 9 years old. From that point, his life changed dramatically. He was adopted by Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo, the acting regent of the Thembu people. This gesture was done as a favor to Nelson's father who, years earlier, had recommended Jongintaba be made chief. Nelson left the carefree life he knew in Qunu, fearing he would never see is village again. He traveled by motorcar to Mqhekezweni, the provincial capital of Thembuland, to the chief's royal residence. Though he had not forgotten his beloved village of Qunu, he quickly adopted to the new, more sophisticated surroundings of Mqhekezweni.

Mandela was given the same status and responsibilities as the regent's two other children, son Justice, the oldest and Nomafu, the regent's daughter. Mandela took classes in a one-room school next to the palace, studying English, Xhosa, history, and geography. It was during this period that Mandela developed his interest in African history from elder chiefs who came to the Great Palace on official business. He heard of how the African people had lived in relative peace until the coming of the white

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