Nelson Mandela

The basic information Born :18 July 1918 in Mvezo Age 94 Nationnality : South African Spouses : Evelyn Ntoko Mase (1944–1957) Winnie Madikizela (1957–1996) Graça Machel (1998–present) He had 6 Children Religion : methodist

He spent his childhood in a village of South Africa, next to the Mbashe river ! This village is famous because Mandela was born there. Its name is Mvezo ! He had a nickname in his village « Rolihlahla » which means literally « to pull a branch of a tree » or « the troublemaker ». He is the son of a Mvezo cheaf, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa ! His father became a farmer and Mandela a shepherd. The Mandela's father died when Mandela was 9 years old But his father was refused the right to rule by the colonial autority. His childhood

Mandela was adopted by the king of mqhekwezweni village because Mandela's father was his friend. He quickly became the favorite of the king and of the people. He was respectful and obedient. The rest When he was 16, he became a man and his adoptive father sent Mandela to school ! But the other students made fun of Mandela because he was a shepherd. When he was 20, he was sent to a black university in south Africa.

THE BIG GEAR CHANGE Mandela became the leader of a student group and he declared « war » on the administration because the quality of the school lunch was bad ! He was expelled…. Instead he went to Johanesbourg. his adoptive father was irritated by Mandela’s behaviour. He ordered Mandela to return to the village, but he couldn’t buy the train ticket

He found a job in a gold mine but Mandela discovered injustice and discrimination. Next he found a second job in a lawyer’s office ! He met Walter Sisulu who became his mentor ! A.N.C African National Congress Walter Sisulu was the president of the A.N.C but Mandela found the A.N.C too resigned. Therefore he created a younger branch of the A.N.C, a more radical movement ! This was the first political engagement of Mandela ! The begining of a new life

Mandela's action He began boxing and he quickly turned professional ! Discrimination and segregation became stronger Therefore Mandela began a campaign to denounce this ! A lot of people came to Mandela to denouce discrimination and segregation. Mandela used Gandhi's method of no violence Aparteid was a movement against black people ! This regime was responsable for racial segregation!

In Jail He had the regimental number ! The conditions in prison were very hard : Ten hours of work per day ! No heating ! 2 visit per year ! The letters were censured ! Mandela was arrested because: he left the teritory without autorisation ! called a strike ! Attempted of coup d'etat He wanted to die ! He was sentenced to life in prison! he was locked away in Roben island jail which was surrounded by sharks !

The most popular political prisoner

His liberation After 23 years of jail, the governement decided to negociate with Mandela ! The young generation was obviously, a very important advantage for Mandela !

I think Nelson Mandela is an important historical character because he had a lot of qualities ! The End !

The end of his life He was imprisoned for 27 years ! He gave a democratic constitution to his country ! But he only had one presidential mandate ! He avoided war between whites and blacks ! He began his first campaign of presidential election when he was 76 years old !He got 66 % of the votes! He became president and gave his enemies government positions to keep them happy! When he left jail he was already 71 years old !