Biography of Nelson Mandela
Sara Cruz Sierra 2ºB
*Summary of his life.*Early life.*Political activity.*Presidency of South Africa.*Marriage and family.*Tributes to Nelson Mandela.
Nelson Mandela was born 18 july of 1918 in Mvezo,South Africa.Served As Present of South Africa from 1994 to 1999 and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election.Mandela served 27 years in prison, spending many of these years on Robben Island. Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, Mandela led his party in the negotiations that led to multi-racial democracy in 1994. As president, he frequently gave priority to reconciliation, while introducing policies aimed at combating poverty and inequality in South Africa.
In South Africa, Mandela is often known as Madiba, his father clan name. Mandela has received more than 250 awards over four decades, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize.
*Summary of his life
*Early life
Nelson Mandela belongs to a cadet branch of the Thembu dynasty, which reigns in the Transkei Region of South Africa's Eastern Cape Province.He was born in Mvezo, a small village located in the district of Umtata.
Mandela's father,Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, served as chief of the town of Mvezo.He moved his family to Qunu . Mandela's father had four wives, with whom he fathered thirteen children (four boys and nine girls).Mandela was born to his third wife, Nosekeni Fanny.Mandela spent much of his childhood.
Rolihlahla Mandela became the first member of his family to attend a school, where his teacher Miss Mdingane gave him the English name "Nelson".
When Mandela was nine, his father died of tuberculosis, and the regent , Jongintaba, became his guardian.Mandela attended a Wesleyan mission school located next to the palace of the regent. Following Thembu custom, he was initiated at age sixteen, and attended Clarkebury Boarding Institute.Mandela completed his Junior Certificate in two years, instead of the usual three.Designated to inherit his father's position as a privy councillor, in 1937 Mandela moved to Healdtown,the Wesleyan college in Fort Beaufort which most Thembu royalty attended.At nineteen, he took an interest in boxing and running at the school.
After enrolling, Mandela began to study for a Bachelor of Arts at the Fort Hare University, where he met Oliver Tambo.Tambo and Mandela became lifelong friends and colleagues.
*Political activity
After the 1948 election victory of the Afrikaner-dominated National Party, which supported the apartheid policy of racial segregation,Mandela began actively participating in politics.During this time, Mandela and fellow lawyer Oliver Tambo operated the law firm of Mandela and Tambo.
Mahatma Gandhi influenced Mandela's approach, and subsequently the methods of succeeding generations of South African anti-apartheid activists.Mandela later took part in the 29–30 January 2007 conference in New Delhi marking the 100th anniversary of Gandhi's introduction of satyagraha in South Africa.
Initially committed to nonviolent resistance, Mandela and 150 others were arrested on 5 December 1956 and charged with treason. From 1952–1959, a new class of black activists known as the Africanists disrupted ANC activities in the townships.
The Africanists ridiculed the 1955 Freedom Charter Kliptown Conference for the concession of the 100,000-strong ANC to just a single vote in a Congressional alliance. In 1959, the ANC lost its most militant support when most of the Africanists, with financial support from Ghana and significant political support from the Transvaal-based Basotho, broke away to form the Pan
Africanist Congress (PAC) under the direction of Robert Sobukwe and Potlako Leballo.
*Presidency of South Africa.
South Africa's first multi-racial elections in which full enfranchisement was granted were held on 27 April 1994. The ANC won
62% of the votes in the election.During the course of his presidency, a wide range of progressive social reforms were
enacted by Mandela's government, aimed at reducing long entrenched social and
economic inequalities in South Africa. Amongst the measures carried out by Mandela and this are some ministers
included:*The introduction of free health care.
*The launching of the Reconstruction and Development Programme.
*The introduction of parity in grants.*An expansion of reproductive health services.*The introduction of child support grants (1998) to alleviate child poverty.*The connection of 3 million people to telephone lines.*The bringing of 1 million children into the education system.*The upgrading or construction of 500 clinics.
*The connection of 2 million people to the electricity grid.*The construction of 750,000 houses, housing nearly 3 million people in the process.*The extension of water access to 3 million people.*The introduction of compulsory schooling for African children between six and fourteen years.*The provision of free meals for between 3 to 5 million school children.
*The provision of free meals for between 3 to 5 million school children.*The launching of the National Drug Policy in 1996 to improve access to essential medicines.
*Marriage and family.
Mandela has been married three times, has fathered six children, has twenty grandchildren, and a growing number of great-grandchildren. He is grandfather to Chief Mandla Mandela.Mandela's first marriage was to Evelyn Ntoko Mase.Mandela's second wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
Mandela was remarried, on his 80th birthday in 1998, to Graça Machel.
*Tributes to Nelson Mandela.
The statue of Mandela in Parliament Square, London.
Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton,Johannesburg.
Nelson Mandela Gardens in Leeds.
Nelson Mandela Bridge in Johannesburg.
