Rolihlahla Dalibhunga Mandela is Nelson Mandela's birth name. Mandela was born July 18th, 1918 in South Africa. His family had royal connections. The school master at his elementary school had changed his name to Nelson Mandela because of the pressures put down by the new government. His mom refused to call him by his new name. His father died when he was 9. He was put in the royal family housing for awhile being taught social skills and training. He was sent to a local boarding school. Then he went to Fort Hare University to avoid an arranged marriage.
When he went to Johannesburg, he met Walter Sisulu. Sisulu was a peace rights activist who saw greatness in Mandela. So he asked Mandela to join the group. Mandela accepted. In 1951, he became president of the ANC (African National Congress) youth league. Mandela put himself in a difficult place when doing this, while he was walking home from work one day, he saw a gorgeous lady. They got married 3 months later.
The congress forced Mandela to stop attending meetings after he started marching and peacefully protesting to stop apartheid, a brutal form of segregation. This meant he couldn't even be with his family to have dinner or even stay at his own house. This made him very upset and sad. So, Mandela did things behind the scenes. After awhile this plan failed, and he got caught and put in jail.
He was in jail for 27 years. His stay on Robben Island was 18 years. Then his stay at Pollsmoor was 9 years. Things were getting worse in his country. The government planned to release him. When he was released he found out that his wife was cheating on him and that politically she had become more violent. He left her the next year. He became distant from his three kids in the divorce. In 1958, he married Winnie. Also, in 1968-69, Mandela's mom dies and his oldest son gets in a car crash. Winnie is found guilty of kidnapping and sentenced to 6 years in jail.
In the middle of all this the apartheid was going on. Apartheid was going on all the time it was a way that the government reduced population. This way was inhuman and didn't make sense to any one who opposed it. Many people including Mandela and Desmand Tutu were apart of the trails for amnesty.
December 1993(year before I was born) Mandela and de Klerk were appointed with the Nobel peace prize. May 10th, 1994, Mandela is inaugurated as president of South Africa with his daughter Zenani. May 1996, Mandela divorces Winnie. Two years later on Mandela's 80th birthday weds Graca Machel, the widow of the former president of Mozambique. He had his 90th birthday concert in 2007.
Today we consider him one of the strongest people who dealt with tragedy. He is still dealing with many difficult political and family problems. Mandela, in my eyes, is an inspirational person who dealt with conflicts such as has all the people in the world knowing what he had dealt with. He is and will be a future inspirer for future generations.
