Nelson Mandela

� Nelson Mandela, in a four-hour speech before going to prison for 27 years

Nelson Mandela lived in a South African prison for 27 years. It was the price he paid for standing by his convictions, though compromising them could have delivered his freedom many times. Mandela stood against apartheid, the stern segregation policy that divided South Africa, and showed the world a free will is stronger than a free body.

Rolihlahla Mandela was born in a small village in Transkei, South Africa, on July 18, 1918. His father, Henry Mandela, was chief of the Tembu Tribe, though Mandela himself was not in the succession line for the throne. Henry passed away when he was nine. Still, he had a relatively peaceful upbringing and a good education. It was at his first day of school that a teacher gave him his English name, Nelson.

Mandela obtained his law degree from University of Witwatersrand in 1942, and two years later began his political career with the African National Congress (ANC). Mandela partnered with lawyer and friend Oliver Tambo to provide free or low-cost legal counsel to people who opposed the South African government�s apartheid policy of racial segregation. The two men were constantly trying to balance their political activism with their law practice.

The South African government accused all opposition groups of being Communists, and arrested Mandela and other ANC leaders for treason in 1956. They were acquitted, but Mandela became more and more convinced non-violent protest would not lead to change. He co-founded the ANC�s militant wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, which means �Spear of the Nation� in 1961. That same year, the state banned the ANC and similar organizations.

On August 5th, 1962, Mandela was arrested for leaving South Africa to �incite� an insurrection against the state. Mandela went on trial with 11 other ANC leaders in 1963. It was in the Rivonia Trial that Mandela was charged with sabotage and treason. All but one were found guilty, and Mandela was sentenced to life in prison.

Mandela spent the next 27 years in prison, many of them at the infamous Robben Island where he wrote the bulk of his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom. In early 1985, Mandela rejected a conditional early release because he would not renounce the armed struggle that waged on without him. Mandela�s fame grew during his incarceration, and he became the face of the anti-apartheid movement. Pressure from international groups and changes within South Africa led to Mandela�s release in 1990. Mandela and the president who freed him, F.W. de Klerk, shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize.

The next year, South Africa held its first democratic election. The ANC party came to power, and as the ANC�s leader, Mandela became the country�s first black president. Mandela presided over the transition from minority rule and apartheid to democratic reforms and a unified national identity.

Though Mandela left the presidency in 1999 and has since retired from public life, the 88-year-old Mandela continues to live in South Africa, a free man.

From Les Prix Nobel. The Nobel Prizes 1993, Editor Tore Fr�ngsmyr, [Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 1994

http://africanhistory.about.com/od/mandelanelson/a/bio_mandela.htm