Nelson Mandela
Anti-apartheid leader and president
Nelson Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the country's president from 1994 to 1999. He wrote the international bestseller Long Walk to Freedom.
1 summary 30 min of listening
Born 1918 in Mvezo, South Africa Died 2013
About Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 in Mvezo, South Africa, into the Thembu royal family. He trained in law and worked as a lawyer in Johannesburg, where he became active in the African National Congress (ANC). He later led its armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, and was arrested in 1962. Mandela spent 27 years in prison, much of it on Robben Island, and was released in 1990. He then supported negotiation and reconciliation, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, and in 1994 became South Africa's first president elected in a fully representative democratic election. His books include the international bestseller Long Walk to Freedom. He died on 5 December 2013.