Nelson Mandela was a South African politician, philanthropist, and anti-apartheid revolutionary who sacrificed his freedom in pursuit of his beliefs. He received more than 250 honors over his lifetime, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. He is called the “Father of the Nation†of South Africa.
Born to nobility of the Thembu people, he grew up in his mother’s village tending the cattle herds. He started his schooling around age 7 in a Methodist mission school, where he studied English and history. He went on to gain a quality secondary and college education, before being expelled for participating in a protest.
Mandela had long been fascinated by stories of his ancestors’ resistance to colonizers. From an early age, he dreamed of ending colonialism in Africa. Throughout the 1950s, he carried out his resistance to colonial rule, both peacefully and forcefully. In 1964 he was sentenced to life imprisonment as a result of his involvement in a sabotage plot. He served 27 years in prison and was finally freed in 1990 following an international campaign for his release.
After his release from prison, Mandela travelled the world lobbying to end apartheid policies. In 1994, he was elected president of South Africa, in the first unilateral and open election in the nation’s history. He served one five-year term before stepping down in 1999, setting a precedent for peaceful government in the following years. He continued his work as an activist and philanthropist, becoming involved in rural development initiatives and the fight against the AIDS epidemic.