Nelson Mandela Biography

Nelson Mandela was and still is one of the most famous people in the world. Nelson’s childhood was a very good childhood. Nelson Mandela was born into a royal family in an African tribe. He was adopted by Jongintaba Dalindyebo, he is the supreme chief of the African tribe. Nelson got a very good education during his lifetime. The first place that Nelson attended to get an education was a Wesleyan mission school. After Nelson attended a Wesleyan mission school he went to the Clarkebury Boarding Institute. The first college that Nelson went to was the college called Wesleyan College. After he went to Wesleyan College, Nelson enrolled into the University of Fort Hare. Nelson and some of his friends got expelled from University of Fort Hare, because they participated in a boycott against school policies. (Nelson Mandela History) Nelson got a very good education throughout his lifetime at these schools. (Nelson Mandela Biography) Nelson Mandela had a very large family throughout his life. Nelson’s father name was Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa. Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa served as the chief of the African tribe. Gadla had 4 wives and had 9 daughters and 4 sons combined with all of his wives. Gadla died when Nelson was nine years old. Nelson was adopted by Jongintaba Dalindyebo(Nelson Mandela History).

The third of the four wives that Gadla had was Nosekeni Fanny. Nosekeni Fanny was the mother of Nelson Mandela. (genealogy) Nelson Mandela had more siblings than the average family does today. Nelson had six sisters and three brothers. Nelson’s sisters names are Lieby Piliso, Baliwe Mandela, Nothusile Bhulehluth, Mabel Notancu Ntimakhwe, Makhutswanna Mandela, and Constance Mbekeni Mandela (genealogy). Nelson has three brothers and their names are Nomabandla Mandela, Mhlalwa Mandela, and Daligqui Mandela. (genealogy) Nelson Mandela had three wives throughout his lifetime. The first of the three wives that Nelson had was Evelyn Mase. Nelson had four kids with Evelyn Mase. The names of the four kids that Nelson and Evelyn had together are Madiba Thembkile Mandela, Makaziwe Mandela, Magkatho Lewanika Mandela, and Pumla Makaziwe Mandela. Nelson and Evelyn Mase were married from 1944-1958. The second of the three wives that Nelson had is Winnie Mandela. Nelson and Winnie had two kids together. The names of the two kids that Nelson and Evelyn had together are Zenani Dlamini and Zindzi Mandela. Nelson and Winnie Mandela were married from 1958-1996. The third and final wife of Nelson was Graca Machel. Nelson and Graca got married in their later years of life. Nelson and Graca were married from 1998-2013. They were married until Nelson late in 2013. (genealogy) Nelson Mandela had six kids with two of his wives. Madiba Thembekile Mandela was born in 1945 and died in 1969 at the age of 24. Nelson had Madiba Mandela with Evelyn Mase. The second kid that Mandela and Evelyn Mase had together was Makaziwe Mandela. Makaziwe was born in 1948 and only lived for nine months before passing away.

The third kid that Mandela and Evelyn Mase had together was Magkatho Lewanika Mandela. Magkatho Mandela was born in 1950 and lived a pretty long life, but died in 2005 at the age of 55. The last kid that Mandela and Evelyn Mase had together was Pumla Makaziwe Mandela. Pumla Mandela was born in 1954 and is still living to this day. The first kid that Nelson Mandela had with Winnie Mandela was Zenani Dlamini. Zenani Dlamini was born in 1959 and is still living to this day. The second and final kid that Mandela had with Winnie Mandela was Zindzi Mandela. Zindzi Mandela was only born a year after Zenani. Zindzi was born in 1960 and is still living to this day. (genealogy) Nelson Mandela was a really big Civil Rights Activist. He was on the side of the Anti-Apartheid Movement. The Anti-Apartheid movement was “restricted nonwhites’ basic rights and barred them from government while maintaining white minority rule.”(Nelson Mandela History). The ANC stands for the African National Congress. The ANC believed that the old tactics of not protesting worked, but Mandela though different about that belief. Nelson Mandela joined a small group called the ANCYL which was a small group of ANC members that joined together. The ANCYL is the African National Congress Youth League. The ANCYL was trying to get the ANC to change their tactics of not protesting against the apartheid. After awhile the ANCYL transformed the ANC into a mass movement of tactics against the apartheid.

The tactics that the ANCYL got the ANC to adopt were boycott and strike. With these tactics Nelson Mandela “helped lead the ANC’s Campaign for the Defiance of Unjust Laws.”(Nelson Mandela History) Nelson Mandela travelled across the country to organize protests against discriminatory policies and promoted the Freedom Charter. (Nelson Mandela History) Nelson Mandela and many other fellow members on the activist were sent to prison. The reasons that Mandela was sent to prison is for treason, sabotage, violent conspiracies, leading a strike called “National Workers Strike”, and political offenses. Nelson Mandela was charged with sabotage, because he launched a sabotage campaign against the government with his new group called the MK. Mandela was sent to jail for leading the National Workers Strike because he left the country to meet with people about the National Workers Strike. Mandela got five years of imprisonment for leaving the country and inciting the National Workers Strike.(Nelson Mandela History) Nelson and several other activist were sentenced to life imprisonment during the Rivonia trial for political offenses.(Nelson Mandela Biography)

The Rivonia trial lasted for about eight months and got a lot of international attention.(Nelson Mandela History) Nelson Mandela had a brutal life during his years in prison. Nelson’s life was so brutal in prison, because he would get really cruel punishments. Nelson had a tiny cell and the cell didn’t have a bed or plumbing amd had to do hard work in a lime quarry.(Nelson Mandela History) “Mandela and his inmates were subjected to inhumane punishments for the slightest of offenses, there were reports of the guards burying them up to their necks and urinating on them.”(Nelson Mandela History) Nelson was a black prisoner so he didn’t receive the same amount of food and care as the other prisoner did in the prison. Also, during his time at the prison he got a case of tuberculous and he received the lowest available amount of treatment the prison could have gave him.(Nelson Mandela Biography) Nelson was also only allowed to see his wife, which was Winnie Mandela at the time, only once every six months. The way that Nelson got out of prison was the “newly elected president F.W. de Klerk lifted the ban against the ANC and called for a non racist South Africa”(Nelson Mandela History) and “on February 11, 1990 he ordered Mandela’s release.”(About Nelson Mandela) Although, Nelson Mandela had a brutal life in prison there were some bright sides to his years in prison.

The first bright side of his years in prison was Nelson was “able to earn his Bachelor of Law degree through a University of London correspondence program.”(Nelson Mandela Biography) The other bright side of his years in prison was his reputation grew steadily and more and more people started to follow him.(About Nelson Mandela) This was the beginning of his way to be president of South Africa. After, Mandela was in prison Mandela got sworn in as president and F.W. de Klerk as his deputy. When Nelson Mandela was sworn in as president of South Africa, this made him the first black president of South Africa. Nelson Mandela made many changes to the government during his time as president. The first thing that Mandela change about the government was he established the Truth and Reconciliation Commision.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commision investigated the human rights of the people that supported or opposed the apartheid. This commision also investigated political violations of those who supported the apartheid. Another change that Nelson Mandela made during his time as president is he made programs to improve South Africa’s black populations living standards.(Nelson Mandela History) Nelson Mandela created a new South African constitution during his presidency. This new constitution made it a strong central government based on minority rule. This new constitution also prohibited discrimination against minorities in South Africa. The discrimination against minorities also included whites of South Africa. Another change that Nelson Mandela was striving for was to get South Africa’s economy back on its feet. Nelson did this by making the Reconstruction and Development Plan. This plan created new jobs, housing, and health care for the people of South Africa.(Nelson Mandela Biography) The last improvement that Nelson Mandela made to the government was he made it a “Government of National Unity”.(Nelson Mandela History) This “Government of National Unity” improved many race relations in South Africa. This also built a new national image of a South African country.(Nelson Mandela History) Nelson Mandela had a really strong legacy. Nelson legacy consists of accomplishments through awards and organizations. Mandela won many awards, but the highlight of the awards is the Nobel Peace Prize. Nelson Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Mandela won this award for dismantling the apartheid. Mandela dismantled the apartheid when he joined the ANC and the ANCYL. Nelson Mandela also established many organizations during his legacy. He established the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Another organization that Nelson Mandela and Graca Machel has created is a organization called The Elders. The Elders is an organization that is a group that works to find solutions on some of the world’s toughest solutions. The last section about his legacy is Nelson has a day that is named after him. The name of the day is Nelson Mandela International Day. The United Nations declared that July 18th of every year is Nelson Mandela International Day.

The United Nations declared Nelson Mandela International Day to recognize him for his contributions to the democracy, freedom, and peace.(Nelson Mandela Biography) Nelson Mandela had some health issues in his later life, but was still influential to many people around the world. He made public appearances at many different locations around the world. Even though he made public appearances, Nelson had to limit his appearances due to prostate cancer when he was older. The last public appearance that Nelson Mandela made was in 2010 at the final game of the South African World Cup.(Nelson Mandela Biography) Instead of going to make public appearances, he stayed in the community of the place he lived at when he was a child, just south of Johannesburg.(Nelson Mandela Biography) Nelson was very influential to people all around the world. Nelson Mandela had some health issues in his later years of life. Nelson Mandela developed prostate cancer in 2001. Due to Nelson developing prostate cancer he became very frail as he was getting older. Nelson fought through all of these health issues for many years of his life and still made some public appearances. Nelson Mandela died on December 5th, 2013. Nelson Mandela died from a recurring lung infection.(Nelson Mandela History)