Nelson Mandela is one of the most popular African men in the world. His legacy and his name can never be forgotten. He fought against the colonizers for the freedom of his people in South Africa and Other Africans at Large.
Throughout history, lots of people around the world have faced discrimination – where they are treated differently because of their race, skin colour, gender, age and lots of other things, too.
Sadly, it still happens to this day! But there are some amazing people who have worked hard to make a change for better, and help us move towards a world where everyone is treated fairly and equally. One such person is Nelson Mandela.
Jubilation of his release from prison
Quick Facts
Full name: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
Born: 18 July 1918
Hometown: Mvezo, South Africa
Occupation: President of South Africa and civil rights activist
Died: 5 December 2013
Best known for: Becoming the first black President of South Africa and a civil rights hero
Also known as: Madiba
Early Life Of Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela was born on the 18th July 1918 in the village of Mvezo, in an area of South Africa called Transkei. His father’s name was Henry, and his mother’s Nosekeni Fanny.
As a youngster, little Nelson was actually called Rolihlahla – it wasn’t until he was seven that a teacher at school gave him the name ‘Nelson’, and it stuck!
And check this out… Little Nelson was born into royalty! His father, Henry, was chief of a tribe in south Africa called the Tembu, and his great grandfather was the tribe’s king! Sadly, his father died when he was just nine years old.
Nelson studied hard at school and later attended the University of Fort Hare, the South African Native College. He then moved to the city of Johannesburg to study law at the University of the Witwatersrand, before qualifying as a lawyer in 1942, aged 24.
Mandela voting for the first time
Interesting Facts About Madiba
- Mandela received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for peacefully destroying the Apartheid regime and laying the foundation for democracy. In addition to the Nobel Piece Prize, he won over 250 other awards.
- In 2009, the United Nations proclaimed Mandela’s birthday (July 18th) to be Nelson Mandela International Day. The holiday asks people to spend 67 minutes doing something good for others, which represents the 67 years he spent working toward change.
- Mandela was imprisoned from 1962-1990 for treason and conspiracy against the government. He was sentenced to life in prison, but was released early when the ANC became legal again.
- His birth name means “to pull a branch off a tree” and “troublemaker.”
- He attended Fort Hare Missionary College; however, he was expelled for organizing a strike against the white rule of the college.
- Mandela was in prison for over 27 years.
In 1968, both his mother and son passed away. However, he was not permitted out of prison to attend their funerals. - His only son passed away due to AIDS.
- In 1994, he became the first president of South Africa to be elected by a democratic system, and he became for first black president.
- Once he was finished with his presidency, he became an advocate in support of people suffering from AIDS.
- He has honorary degrees from more than 50 universities worldwide.
- A hobby of his was boxing.
- He was married in 1944 to Evelyn Ntoko Mase. They were married for 13 years. He married Winnie Madikizela in 1958 and they divorced in 1996 after 38 years. In 1998, on his 80th birthday he married Graca Machel, who was the widow of a former Mozambique president.
- He fathered six children, had 17 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren.
- In 2004, at the age of 85, he announced that he would retire from the public domain.
- Nelson Mandela was hospitalized for a respiratory infection for over a month in Pretoria, South Africa prior to turning 95. He was in serious condition with a lung infection and was on life support for almost six months.
Younger Mandela
More Interesting Facts
- After leaving the University College of Fort Hare, the King of his village threatened to arrange marriages for him and his cousin, Justice. They both ran away to Johannesburg to avoid the marriages.
- His only son passed away due to AIDS.
- He fathered six children, had 17 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren.
- His birth name means “to pull a branch off a tree” and “troublemaker.”
He attended Fort Hare Missionary College; however, he was expelled for organizing a strike against the white rule of the college. - He loved sports and even used them as part of his activism. He believed that sport “has the power to change the world…it has the power to inspire. The power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers.”
- He voted for the first time in his life in 1994 – at 76 years old!
Famous Nelson Mandela Quotes
If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.
There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.
It always seems impossible until it’s done.
We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.
Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.
No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.
As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.
The greatest glory in living is not in falling, but in rising every time we fall.
A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.
While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.
An Interesting Mandela Story
And so it was told, when Nelson Mandela was studying law at the University, a white professor, whose last name was Peters, disliked him intensely.
One day, Mr. Peters was having lunch at the dining room when Mandela came along with his tray & sat next to the professor.
The professor said,
“Mr Mandela, you do not understand, a pig & a bird do not sit together to eat”
Mandela looked at him as a parent would a rude child & calmly replied,
“You do not worry professor. I’ll fly away,”
& he went & sat at another table.
Mr. Peters, reddened with rage, decided to take revenge.
The next day in class he posed the following question:
“Mr. Mandela, if you were walking down the street & found a package, & within was a bag of wisdom & another bag with money, which one would you take ?”
Without hesitating, Mandela responded, “The one with the money, of course.”
Mr. Peters , smiling sarcastically said,
“I, in your place, would have taken the wisdom.”
Nelson Mandela shrugged & responded, “Each one takes what he doesn’t have.”
Mr. Peters, by this time was about to throw a fit, seething with fury. So great was his anger that he wrote on Nelson Mandela’s exam sheet the word “IDIOT”
& gave it to the future struggle icon.
Mandela took the exam sheet & sat down at his desk trying very hard to remain calm while he contemplated his next move.
A few minutes later, Nelson Mandela got up, walked up to the professor & told him in a dignified polite tone,
“Mr. Peters, you signed your name on the sheet, but you forgot to give me my grade.”
Nelson Mandela is one of Africa’s Greatest men, and his stories would be told in generations.