Nelson Mandella, whose biography will be presented below, is considered one of the greatest people in Africa, who, since childhood, has set himself a clear goal and has been pursuing it all his life. In the end, he succeeded and did exactly what he wanted, despite the huge number of obstacles in his way.
Youth
Nelson's father had four wives. All together they brought him 13 children, one of whom was Nelson himself. His real name sounds like Holilala, which is translated from the local language means "tearing down tree branches", or simply "prankster." It was Holilala who was the first in the family to go to school, where, in fact, he received the name more widely known to the general public - Nelson. At that time there was a similar tradition, when the children of local tribes received European names. As Mandela himself recalled, on the first day, when all the students came to school and still did not know anything at all, their teacher gave everyone a name. Why Holilala was given such a nickname as Nelson, he did not recognize.
As soon as the future president was nine years old, his father, who was the leader of the village, died. The role of the guardian is taken by the regent of Jongintaba. Nelson Mandella loved to study and devoted quite a lot of time to this particular occupation. As a result, he received a certificate of junior secondary education a year ahead of schedule and continued his studies. In 1939, Holilala entered the country's only university, in which it was possible to receive education for black people. He never completed his studies, and due to the fact that the regent planned to marry him by force, he ran away from home. For some time he worked in the mine, then he was fired from there, he was able to contact the guardian and even more or less establish relations. After that, Nelson gets a job in a law office. During work in absentia, with the help of Jongintaba, he receives a bachelor's degree in humanities and continues his studies, which for various reasons have not been completed.
Fight
Since 1943, Nelson Mandella has been involved in various non-violent actions that impede certain government actions. Since 1944, became a member of the African National Congress (ANC) and takes part in the creation of the Youth League, which can be considered a more radical direction of the congress. Since 1948, when it became clear that the new government was not going to do anything against the existence of apartheid, it began to take a more active part in the political life of the country. Already in 1955, the Congress of the People was organized, where Nelson Mandella took an active part, which is known to this day. It was then that the Freedom Charter was adopted, which became the main document of the ANC. It is interesting that the future president fought not so much for the rights of the black people as for the equality of whites and blacks in the country, he actively opposed the existing policy of white superiority, and against radical organizations that sought to expel all fair-skinned people from the country. In 1961, Nelson Mandella became the leader of armed resistance to the authorities. Various sabotage, guerrilla actions and much more are being undertaken. It was originally planned that no one should suffer during such actions, but in fact this was far from always possible. The resistance did not last long, and the leader himself considered it to be just the last measure, when all other attempts to change the situation became simply useless. In 1962 he was arrested.
Jail
The trial lasted until 1964. In this situation, Nelson Mandella what is known to most? His speeches during this process. He and his arrested associates were found guilty and sentenced to death, but for various reasons, the sentence was changed to life imprisonment. The conditions of imprisonment of blacks, especially political ones, were terrible. They worked more than the rest, but received much less food and water. That is how Nelson Mandella existed for many years, until 1982. The prison in which he was serving his sentence was located on an island called Robben. In 1982, he and the rest of the "old" leaders were transferred to another place of imprisonment in order to (supposedly) prevent them from communicating with the "young" generation of activists who disagreed with the government. He stayed there until 1988, when he was once again transferred to the last place of his “imprisonment” - Victor Verster prison.
Exemption
The last president of South Africa, who was a white man, signed a document in 1990, according to which the ANC becomes an official organization, and all political prisoners are released. Nelson Mandella goes free. From 1990 to 1994, he was again the leader of the ANC, actively participating in negotiations aimed at abolishing apartheid. In 1993, for his achievements in the struggle for the rights of people of any race, Nelson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Thanks to numerous efforts to combat the current policy of the Government of South Africa, in 1994, at the election, he became the first black president in the history of the country who did as much for his country as none of his predecessors did.
The president
Nelson Mandella - President with a capital letter. His activity was so reasonable and effective that it allowed to significantly improve the life of the population. There are many different elements that are key in the life of the country, behind which is the first black president. It is impossible to list them all in one article. Here, free medicine for children and pregnant women, and the development of housing and communal services, and a significant increase in social spending in South Africa, and the connection of electricity, and the reform of education and employment. It was he who introduced the practice of free nutrition for schoolchildren, carried out a reform in the field of medicine, which made medicines more accessible for most of the population, passed a law to facilitate the work and life of miners, and also provided free access to water for three million citizens. A lot of bills have been adopted, which also make life easier for ordinary people and equalize the rights of both light-skinned and black-skinned people in South Africa.
Personal life
During his long and difficult life, Nelson was married three times. From his first wife, he had four children, one of whom died in infancy, and another child died in a car accident, while Mandela was in prison at that moment, and he was not allowed to attend the funeral of his own son. From the second marriage, he has two daughters, and from the third marriage there were no children. In total, at the time of death, there were 17 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Despite a difficult life full of dangers, prolonged imprisonment, armed struggle, as well as the fact that most of his strength was taken away by the struggle for his own ideals and values, he devoted a lot of time to his family.
Resignation
After his resignation as president, Nelson Mandella (photo below) continued to work. He called for a more active fight against AIDS, was a member of an organization whose goal was to stop all armed conflicts in the world, supported Gaddafi as an excellent leader who did a lot for his country, was an honorary member of 50 different universities.
Quotes
He gained fame not only through his work, but also through his speeches and phrases. Nelson Mandella's quotes are quite famous, especially some of them. He talked about the fact that there is no point in anger, as this is equivalent to drinking poison and hoping that he will kill your enemies. According to him, the time allotted to a person should be used as rationally and effectively as possible, and most importantly, to remember that any right thing can be started at any moment. When they told him about forgiveness, he declared: "I can’t forget, I can forgive." He spoke of his work for the benefit of the freedom of all people in the sense that this process is endless: "When you climb one mountain, you see many others who are just waiting for you to conquer them." From his point of view, freedom is not a process of permissiveness, but the life that a person lives, respects others, and this is the only way to achieve true freedom. There are many other, no less famous phrases and sayings of this great man.
