Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela aka Madiba was born in July 18, 1918. He is a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and politician who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.
He was the first black South Africa to hold the office, and the first elected in a fully representative, multiracial election.
Mandela was born to the Thembu royal family and attended Fort Hare University and the University of Witwatersrand, where he studied law.
Working as a lawyer, he was repeatedly arrested for seditious activities and with the ANC leadership, was prosecuted in the Treason Trial from 1956 to 1961 but was found not guilty.
In 1962, he was arrested, convicted of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial.
He served 27 years in prison. An international campaign lobbied for his release, which was granted in 1990.
Becoming ANC President, Mandela published his autobiography and led negotiations with President F.W. de Klerk to abolish apartheid and establish multi-racial elections in 1994 in which he led the ANC to victory.
Mandela has received over 250 international awards for his anti-colonial and anti-apartheid stance, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Soviet Order of Lenin.
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