My teenage daughter’s boyfriend saw a book on my shelf and asked who Nelson Mandela was. He said he knew the name but did not know about him. So, since they are on Christmas break from school, I wrote a short essay for them. This is a moment my daughter would say, “you do too much, mom…” However, Nelson Mandela is a favorite historical icon of mine, and the kids need to know! 

Nelson Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He is widely regarded as one of the most outstanding leaders in world history and a symbol of hope and reconciliation for people around the globe.

Side note: Apartheid was a system of racial segregation and discrimination enforced in South Africa from 1948 until the early 1990s. It involved the institutionalized segregation of South Africans based on race, with white people enjoying privileges and non-white people being subjected to discrimination and oppression. Under apartheid, non-white people were denied many fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to vote and access certain services and opportunities. The system was widely condemned as a violation of human rights and was eventually dismantled through negotiation and reform.

Mandela was born in 1918 in the village of Mvezo in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. He was educated at the University of Fort Hare and the University of the Witwatersrand, where he studied law. As a young man, he became involved in the anti-apartheid movement and was a member of the African National Congress (ANC). This political party sought to end the system of racial segregation and discrimination known as apartheid.

Mandela was imprisoned for his opposition to the government and spent 27 years in prison, becoming one of the world’s most famous political prisoners. After his release from prison in 1990, he played a key role in negotiations to end apartheid and establish multi-party democracy in South Africa.

In 1994, Mandela was elected as South Africa’s first black President in the country’s first multi-racial elections. As President, he worked to promote reconciliation and forgiveness among the country’s different racial groups. In addition, he implemented policies to address the social and economic inequalities left over from the apartheid era.

Mandela was widely admired for his leadership and commitment to justice and equality. He received numerous awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. He passed away on December 5, 2013, at 95.