Biographies: Nelson Mandela - Actor

Biographies

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Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, into the Thembu royal family in Mvezo, Union of South Africa. He was a South African anti-apartheid political activist and served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. Mandela was the first black president of South Africa, in addition to serving as the president of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997. He studied law at the University of Fort Hare as well as the University of Witwatersrand, lived in Johannesburg, and got involved in anti-colonial politics. Mandela rose to prominence after getting involved in the 1952 Defiance Campaign and the 1955 Congress of the People. He worked as a lawyer and was repeatedly arrested. In 1962, he was sentenced to life imprisonment after the Rivonia Trial. Mandela was honored by many countries. He died on December 5, 2013.