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Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
(born July 18, 1918) was the first President of
South Africa to be elected in
fully-representative democratic elections.
Before his presidency,
Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist and
leader of the African National Congress (ANC),
and was sentenced to life imprisonment for
sabotage after he went underground and began the
ANC's armed struggle. He saw his wife only three
times over the next 27 years.
Through his 27 years in
prison, much of it spent in a cell on Robben
Island, Mandela became the most widely known
figure in the struggle against apartheid. Among
opponents of apartheid in South Africa and
internationally, he became a cultural icon of
freedom and equality comparable with Mahatma
Gandhi (although, unlike Gandhi, Mandela did
advocate the use of violence to achieve
political change). However, the apartheid
government and nations sympathetic to it
condemned him and the ANC as communists and
terrorists, and he became a figure of hatred
among many South African whites, supporters of
apartheid, and opponents of the ANC.
Following his release from
prison in 1990, his switch to a policy of
reconciliation and negotiation helped lead the
transition to multi-racial democracy in South
Africa. Since the end of apartheid, he has been
widely praised, even among white South Africans
and former opponents.
Mandela has received more
than one hundred awards over four decades, most
notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. He is
currently a celebrated elder statesman who
continues to voice his opinion on topical
issues. In South Africa he is often known as
Madiba, an honorary title adopted by elders of
Mandela's clan. The title has come to be
synonymous with Nelson Mandela.
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