Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) Campaigned for justice and freedom in his native South Africa.

Mandela spent 20 years in jail for his opposition to apartheid. After his release, he became the
first President of Democratic South Africa and helped heal the wounds of apartheid by his
magnanimous attitude to his former political enemies.

He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative
democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by
tackling institutionalised racism and fostering racial reconciliation.

He won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993, along with South Africa's president at the time, F.W.
de Klerk, for having led the transition from apartheid to a multiracial democracy. Mandela is
also known for being the first black president of South Africa, serving from 1994 to 1999. Read
more about apartheid.