Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
Photo by South Africa: The Good News (13 May 1998)
Born: 18 July 1918, Mvezo, Eastern Cape, Union of South Africa
Rolihlahla was the son of Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, chief of the town of Mvezo, but the father alienated colonial authorities and the family moved to Qunu. When the father died of tuberculosis, the new king of the Thembu tribe adopted Rolihlahla and gave him the surname Mandela. He was the first member of his family to attend school, a Wesleyan mission school where his teacher gave him the English name Nelson. He was initiated into the Thembu tribe at ate sixteen and sent to Clarkebury Boarding Institute which he finished in two years. He attended Fort Hare University for one year before his involvement in a boycott of university policy and was asked to leave. He and another tribal member were told that marriages had been arranged for them, both of them left for Johannesburg to avoid marriage. There Mandelacompleted earned a BA from the University of South Africa by correspondence, then studied law at the University of Witwatersrand. He was involved in a number of non-violent campaigns against the white government which lead to his arrest and trial for treason in 1956. In 1961 Mandela led the African National Conference's armed wing, organizing a campaign of sabotage against military and governmental targets. He was arrested, with CIA help, the next year he was sentenced to five years. While in prison, new charges were brought against Mandela and group of ANC leaders, all were given life sentences in 1964. During this time Mandela was an intellectual and strategic leader of the ANC, he also received the Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of London External Programme. REsponding to a worldwide call for his release, newly-elected president F. W. de Klerk reversed the ban on the ANC and released Mandela. Mandela was elected president of the ANC and became president of South America in the first multi-racial election in 1994, an office he held for five year. In retirement he has worked for children's charities and effective treatment for AIDS. He shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with de Klerk and has received high honors from Canada, England, India, Turkey, and the US for his work.
Biography from Wikipedia and Nobel Foundation
Nelson Mandela quotes:
Quotes found : 82 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 6) 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next
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- A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. permalink
Nelson Mandela - A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special. permalink
Nelson Mandela - A leader is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind. permalink
Nelson Mandela - A new society cannot be created by reproducing the repugnant past, however refined or enticingly repackaged. permalink
Nelson Mandela - After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. permalink
Nelson Mandela - Any man that tries to rob me of my dignity will lose. permalink
Nelson Mandela - As I have said, the first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself.... Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility. permalink
Nelson Mandela - As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. permalink
Nelson Mandela - As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. permalink
Nelson Mandela - Communists have always played an active role in the fight by colonial countries for their freedom, because the short-term objects of Communism would always correspond with the long-term objects of freedom movements. permalink
Nelson Mandela - Does anybody really think that they didn't get what they had because they didn't have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment? permalink
Nelson Mandela - Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farmworkers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another. permalink
Nelson Mandela - Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. permalink
Nelson Mandela - For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. permalink
Nelson Mandela - Freedom would be meaningless without security in the home and in the streets. permalink
Nelson Mandela
Quotes found : 82 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 6) 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next
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