Nelson Mandela — South African anti-apartheid hero dies
The most cited international news of this week has been the death of the Nelson Mandela at the age of 95 on December, 5, 2013. Thousands of people all over the world have been mourning, reacting and paying their tribute. Here’s a scope of facts about the life of this great person.
Brief Facts:
OCCUPATION: Civil Rights Activist, Politician&World Leader, Writer, Lawyer, Philantropist
BIRTH DATE: July 18, 1918
DEATH DATE: December 05, 2013
EDUCATION: Clarkebury Boarding Institute, Wesleyan College, University College of Fort Hare, University of London, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
PLACE OF BIRTH: Mveso, Transkei, South Africa
PLACE OF DEATH: Johannesburg, South Africa
FULL NAME: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
AKA: Nelson Mandela
AKA: Rolihlahla
NICKNAME: Madiba
ORIGINALLY: Rolihlahla Mandela
NICKNAME: Black Pimpernel
What is Nelson Mandela most famous for?
Being a hero of the apartheid struggle, he spent 27 years in jail and then became South Africa’s first democratically elected black president in 1994, serving until 1999. As the imprisoned Nelson Mandela became the icon of a global anti-apartheid campaign, within South Africa a ban on his image meant people weren’t sure what he looked like — and he became a mythological figure. A symbol of global peacemaking, he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
Timeline from BBC.co.uk
- 1918 Born in the Eastern Cape
- 1943 Joined African National Congress
- 1956 Charged with high treason, but charges dropped after a four-year trial
- 1962 Arrested, convicted of incitement and leaving country without a passport, sentenced to five years in prison
- 1964 Charged with sabotage, sentenced to life
- 1990 Freed from prison
- 1993 Wins Nobel Peace Prize
- 1994 Elected first black president
- 1999 Steps down as leader
- 2001 Diagnosed with prostate cancer
- 2004 Retires from public life
- 2005 Announces his son has died of an HIV/Aids-related illness.
More to read on his biography and life:
- 10 surprising facts you didn’t know about Nelson Mandela and full coverage from edition.cnn.com
- The man who destroyed the apartheid + full coverage with videos in English and lots of photos
- The great unifier has died (full coverage and lots of multimedia and archived letters about Nelson Mandela from theguardian.com
- Nelson Mandela’s biography from biography.com
- The Life & Times of Nelson Mandela (with lots of multimedia and facts) from the nelsonmandela.org
- Wikipedia about Nelson Mandela
- Videos and an on-going live-stream coverage about Nelson Mandela