Who was Nelson Mandela ? His full name was Rolihlahla Dalibhunga Mandela but he was nicknamed Nelson by his first teacher. His official nickname was Madiba. He was born July 18th (the eighteenth) 1918 (nineteen eighteen) in Mvezo, South Africa. His father was a counselor to the Thembu royal family. At his time, South Africa was still a dominion of the Commonwealth. He got married three times and had six children. He studied law in Fort Hare university and became a lawyer. He was also an activist, a politician and especially a freedom fighter. He joined the ANC (African National Congress) in 1942. He became the president of the ANC Youth League and committed himself into fighting against Apartheid. He led a sabotage campaign in nineteen sixty-one and was

put in jail because he was accused of treason / conspiracy to overthrow the apartheid government. He stayed in prison for 27 years. During his years in prison, Mandela was accepted as the most significant black leader in South Africa and became a symbol of the anti-Apartheid movement. He even refused to be freed against changing his political position. When he was released on February 11 th 1990, he convinced president De Klerk to abolish apartheid and to organise multiracial elections in 1994. He became South Africa's first black president from May the tenth nineteen ninety-four to June the fourteenth nineteen ninety-nine. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 with F. De Klerk, former South African president. He died on December 5th (the fifth) 2013 (two thousand and thirteen) in Johannesburg, South Africa.