Nelson Mandela Table of Contents Introduction & Top Questions Early life and work Underground activity and the Rivonia Trial Incarceration Presidency and retirement References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics Images & Videos Quizzes African Leaders: Part One On Freedom: A Quiz Heroes, Rebels, and Killers Related Questions When and where was Nelson Mandela born? When did Nelson Mandela die? What is Nelson Mandela known for? To whom was Nelson Mandela married? What publications did Nelson Mandela write? Read Next Timeline of the 1990s 15 Nelson Mandela Quotes 12 Incredible Buildings in South Africa What’s the Difference Between a President and a Prime Minister? Discover How Did the Rainbow Flag Become a Symbol of LGBTQ Pride? 8 of the World’s Most-Remote Islands 6 Animals That Eat Their Mates 7 of History's Most Notorious Serial Killers Does Ball Lightning Exist? How Fast Is the World’s Fastest Human? Why Is the Indy 500 Held on Memorial Day Weekend? Contents Home Politics, Law & Government World Leaders Presidents & Heads of States Nelson Mandela president of South Africa Actions Cite verified Cite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style Copy Citation Share Share Share to social media Facebook Twitter URL https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nelson-Mandela Give Feedback External Websites Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Feedback Type Select a type (Required) Factual Correction Spelling/Grammar Correction Link Correction Additional Information Other Your Feedback Submit Feedback Thank you for your feedback Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. External Websites Official Site of the Nelson Mandela Foundation The Elders - Nelson Mandela South African History Online - Biography of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela The Nobel Prize - Biography of Nelson Mandela Britannica Websites Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Nelson Mandela - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11) Nelson Mandela - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) Print print Print Please select which sections you would like to print: Table Of Contents Cite verified Cite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style Copy Citation Share Share Share to social media Facebook Twitter URL https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nelson-Mandela Feedback External Websites Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? 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Nelson Mandela - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11) Nelson Mandela - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) Also known as: Madiba Mandela, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Jun 2, 2024 ? Article History Table of Contents Nelson Mandela See all media In full: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (Show more) Byname: Madiba (Show more) Born: July 18, 1918, Mvezo, South Africa (Show more) Died: December 5, 2013, Johannesburg (aged 95) (Show more) Title / Office: president (1994-1999) , South Africa (Show more) Political Affiliation: African National Congress Umkhonto we Sizwe (Show more) Awards And Honors: Nobel Prize (1993) (Show more) See all related content → Recent News June 3, 2024, 12:10 AM ET (AP) A guide to what's next for South Africa and the key figures in unprecedented coalition talks June 3, 2024, 12:09 AM ET (AP) South Africa's president urges parties to find common ground in talks after election deadlock June 1, 2024, 3:28 AM ET (AP) South Africa's ruling ANC is on the brink of losing its majority in a landmark election result May 28, 2024, 1:50 AM ET (AP) South Africa's election might be a defining moment ? with new complications. Here's what to know May 27, 2024, 9:28 PM ET (AP) South Africa's surprise election challenger is evoking the past anti-apartheid struggle Top Questions When and where was Nelson Mandela born? Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, also known as Madiba, was born Rolihlahla Mandela on July 18, 1918, in Mvezo, South Africa; the name Nelson was later added by one of his teachers. His father, the chief of the Madiba clan of the Xhosa -speaking Tembu people, died when Nelson was still young, and he was raised by Jongintaba, the regent of the Tembu. Although Nelson had a claim to the chieftainship, he renounced it in order to become a lawyer. Read more below: Early life and work Tembu Read more about the Tembu people. When did Nelson Mandela die? Nelson Mandela died on December 5, 2013, in Johannesburg . He was 95 years old. After his death was announced, his life was remembered and celebrated in South Africa as well as around the world. Numerous memorial services were held, including one by the South African government on December 10. He was laid to rest at Qunu, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province, on December 15. Read more below: Presidency and retirement What is Nelson Mandela known for? Nelson Mandela is known for several things, but perhaps he is best known for successfully leading the resistance to South Africa’s policy of apartheid in the 20th century, during which he was infamously incarcerated at Robben Island Prison (1964?82). He won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993, along with South Africa’s president at the time, F.W. de Klerk , for having led the transition from apartheid to a multiracial democracy. Mandela is also known for being the first black president of South Africa, serving from 1994 to 1999. Read more below: Presidency and retirement apartheid Read more about apartheid. To whom was Nelson Mandela married? Nelson Mandela had three wives: Evelyn Ntoko Mase (1944?58); Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (1958?96), who was also a noteworthy anti- apartheid champion; and Graca Machel (1998?2013), who was the widow of Samora Machel , former president of Mozambique (1975?86), and was Mandela’s wife at the time of his death in 2013. Read more below: Early life and work Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Read more about Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. What publications did Nelson Mandela write? Nelson Mandela’s writings included I Am Prepared to Die (1964; rev. ed. 1986); No Easy Walk to Freedom (1965; updated ed. 2002); The Struggle Is My Life (1978; rev. ed. 1990); In His Own Words (2003); and Long Walk to Freedom (1994), which chronicles his early life and years in prison. Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years (2017), released posthumously, is the unfinished draft of his second volume of memoirs; it was completed by Mandla Langa. Read more below: Presidency and retirement Summarize This Article Summarize BETA ? Trusted Britannica articles, summarized using artificial intelligence, to provide a quicker and simpler reading experience. This is a beta feature. Please verify important information in our full article. This summary was created from our Britannica article using AI. Please verify important information in our full article. Summarize This Article Nelson Mandela: From shepherd to president Profile of Nelson Mandela. (more) See all videos for this article Nelson Mandela (born July 18, 1918, Mvezo, South Africa?died December 5, 2013, Johannesburg) was a Black nationalist and the first Black president of South Africa (1994?99). His negotiations in the early 1990s with South African Pres. F.W. de Klerk helped end the country’s apartheid system of racial segregation and ushered in a peaceful transition to majority rule. Mandela and de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993 for their efforts. Early life and work Nelson Mandela was the son of Chief Henry Mandela of the Madiba clan of the Xhosa-speaking Tembu people. After his father’s death, young Nelson was raised by Jongintaba, the regent of the Tembu. Nelson renounced his claim to the chieftainship to become a lawyer. He attended South African Native College (later the University of Fort Hare) and studied law at the University of the Witwatersrand; he later passed the qualification exam to become a lawyer. In 1944 he joined the African National Congress (ANC), a Black-liberation group, and became a leader of its Youth League. That same year he met and married Evelyn Ntoko Mase. Mandela subsequently held other ANC leadership positions, through which he helped revitalize the organization and oppose the apartheid policies of the ruling National Party . In 1952 in Johannesburg , with fellow ANC leader Oliver Tambo , Mandela established South Africa’s first Black law practice, specializing in cases resulting from the post-1948 apartheid legislation. Also that year, Mandela played an important role in launching a campaign of defiance against South Africa’s pass laws, which required nonwhites to carry documents (known as passes, pass books, or reference books) authorizing their presence in areas that the government deemed “restricted” (i.e., generally reserved for the white population). He traveled throughout the country as part of the campaign, trying to build support for nonviolent means of protest against the discriminatory laws. In 1955 he was involved in drafting the Freedom Charter , a document calling for nonracial social democracy in South Africa. Mandela’s antiapartheid activism made him a frequent target of the authorities. Starting in 1952, he was intermittently banned (severely restricted in travel, association, and speech). In December 1956 he was arrested with more than 100 other people on charges of treason that were designed to harass antiapartheid activists. Mandela went on trial that same year and eventually was acquitted in 1961. During the extended court proceedings, he divorced his first wife and married Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela ( Winnie Madikizela-Mandela ). Britannica Quiz Heroes, Rebels, and Killers Underground activity and the Rivonia Trial After the massacre of unarmed Black South Africans by police forces at Sharpeville in 1960 and the subsequent banning of the ANC, Mandela abandoned his nonviolent stance and began advocating acts of sabotage against the South African regime. He went underground (during which time he became known as the Black Pimpernel for his ability to evade capture) and was one of the founders of Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”), the military wing of the ANC. In 1962 he went to Algeria for training in guerrilla warfare and sabotage, returning to South Africa later that year. On August 5, shortly after his return, Mandela was arrested at a road block in Natal ; he was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison. Nelson Mandela Nelson Mandela in prison on Robben Island, off Cape Town. (more) In October 1963 the imprisoned Mandela and several other men were tried for sabotage, treason, and violent conspiracy in the infamous Rivonia Trial, named after a fashionable suburb of Johannesburg where raiding police had discovered quantities of arms and equipment at the headquarters of the underground Umkhonto we Sizwe. Mandela’s speech from the dock, in which he admitted the truth of some of the charges made against him, was a classic defense of liberty and defiance of tyranny . (His speech garnered international attention and acclaim and was published later that year as I Am Prepared to Die .) On June 12, 1964, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, narrowly escaping the death penalty . Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now