Rolihlahla "Nelson" Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and politician who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. As a young lawyer, he helped form the African National Congress to oppose apartheid and racial segregation. He went underground to lead bombing campaigns against the government and was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. While imprisoned for 27 years, he became a symbol of the anti-apartheid movement and campaigns lobbied for his release. After his release in 1990, he negotiated an end to apartheid and led South Africa's first multi-racial democratic elections, becoming its first black President.

1. Nelson
Rolihlahla
Mandela
Cora Ann Metz
The man who changed the world.

2. Nelson
Rolihlahla
Mandela
Cora Ann Metz
The son of an African tribal chief, Rolilahla
"Nelson" Mandela trained as a lawyer and
became a founding member of the African
National Congress (ANC), which rose up
against the new Afrikaaner government of
1948 and its policy of apartheid.
Apartheid is racial segregation, which
institutionalized poverty and inequality for
Black people in South Africa.
As a political activist and a Black man under
a white extremist government, Mandela
went underground to prevent being arrested
for his anti-government activities.

3. Nelson
Rolihlahla
Mandela
Cora Ann Metz
He became known as the
"Black Pimpernel" - a take on the fictional
French revolutionary figure the Scarlet
Pimpernel - because of his ability to avoid
the police using disguises, a favorite of
which was a chauffeur's uniform.
In 1961, he formed the ANC's military
wing, the Umkhonto we Sizwe or MK, and
led a bombing campaign against
government targets.
Accused of treason against the South
African government, he was arrested in
1962 and charged with sabotage and
conspiracy to overthrow the government by
violence. He was brought to trial along with
other ANC and anti-apartheid leaders.

4. Nelson
Rolihlahla
Mandela
Cora Ann Metz
On June 12, 1964, he was sentenced to life
imprisonment and was jailed at the Robben
Island Prison (pictured below), 12km from
Cape Town, off the coast of South Africa
where he spent the first 18 years of his
incarceration. His Robben Island prison
number was 46664, which later became a
symbol in the campaign for his freedom. While
in prison he was allowed only one visit a year
of 30 minutes duration, and was permitted to
write and receive only a few letters.

5. Nelson
Rolihlahla
Mandela
Cora Ann Metz
During his imprisonment, he contracted
tuberculosis, which caused severe lung
damage. This lung damage made him
susceptible to the pulmonary infection he is
suffering from today. He was moved to
another penitentiary, Pollsmoor Prison on
the mainland, for the final nine years of his
custody.
An international campaign lobbied for his
release. A song, Free Nelson
Mandela, written by Jerry Dammers and
performed by his British band, The Special
A.K.A , became an anthem for his release.

6. Nelson
Rolihlahla
Mandela
Cora Ann Metz
In 1994, Mandela became ANC President
and led negotiations with the Afrikaaner
President F.W. de Klerk to abolish apartheid
and establish multiracial elections, in which
he led the ANC to victory.
As his country's first Black
president, Mandela formed a Government of
National Unity to ease ethnic tensions and
established a new constitution which
abolished racism.
He instituted an inquiry into human rights
abuses and introduced policies to encourage
land ownership for black South Africans to
combat poverty and to provide health care.

7. Nelson
Rolihlahla
Mandela
Cora Ann Metz
Mandela and de Klerk were jointly awarded
the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize "for their work for
the peaceful termination of the apartheid
regime, and for laying the foundations for a
new democratic South Africa".
Mandela stepped down from office in 1999
and in retirement, he established the Nelson
Mandela Foundation to combat poverty and
HIV/AIDS.
Mandela has received more than 250
international awards, including the
US Presidential Medal of Freedom and the
Soviet Order of Lenin.

8. Nelson
Cora Ann Metz
Rolihlahla
Mandela
The man who changed the world.