ivan Hampden Jr.

On this day in 1918, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, a revolutionary leader, was born. Gone but not forgotten. —Nelson Mandela was a revolutionary leader of South Africa who stood against the apartheid regime in his country. Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, into a royal family of Xhosa-speaking Thembu tribe in the South African village of Mvezo in the district of Qunu near Umtata, Transkei (now known as Eastern Cape). Many south Africans called him Madiba. He was a global advocate for human rights. He was a member of the African National Congress (ANC) party beginning in the 1940s, he was the leader of both peaceful and arm protests against the white minority in the racially divided South Africa. His anti-apartheid movements landed him in prison for nearly three decades and this made him the face of anti-apartheid movements both within his country and internationally. He was released in 1990 and he participated in the eradication of apartheid for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and in 1994 he became the first black president of South Africa, forming a multiethnic government to oversee the country's transition. After spending just one term in office, he retired from politics in 1999 and remained a devoted champion for peace and social justice in his nation and around the world until he died in 2013 at the age of 95.—