Nelson Mandela’s Biography – Who he was?
A former president of South Africa, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 in the small village of Mvezo in the district of Umtata, the Transkei capital. He belonged to a cadet branch of the Thembu dynasty that reigned in the Transkeian Territories of the Union of South Africa's Cape Province. His original name was Rolihlahla that means ‘to pull a branch of a tree’, or more commonly, ‘a troublemaker’.
His great-grandfather was Ngubengcuka, the king of Thembu poeople who eventually came under the British Colonial rule with time. One of the king’s had a son named Mandela, who finally became Nelson’s grandfather and thus, the source of this surname. However, Nelson was the king’s child by a wife from the Ixhiba clan, or the so called left-hand house, and the descendents of this branch of family could not succeed to throne. Nelson’s father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa was, however, nominated as the chief of the town of Mvezo. But when he left the colonial authorities, he was deprived of his post and he moved to Qunu. Nonetheless, he remained a member of Privy Council and played a vital role in ascension to the Thembu throne of Jongintaba Dalindyebo, who later returned the favor by informally adopting Mandela after his father’s death.
Nelson Mandela’s Biography – Early Life
When Rolihlahla Mandela was 7 years old, he was the first member of his clan to attend a school. It was here that a Methodist teacher named him Nelson after a British Admiral Horatio Nelson, when he found Rolihlahla too difficult to pronounce.
In his childhood, Rolihlahla attended a Wesleyan Mission School. As per Thembu custom, he was initiated when he was 16 years old. Later he went to the Clarkebury Boarding Institute where he completed his Junior Certificate in two years, instead of the customary three. In 1937, Mandela moved to Healdtown, the Wesleyan College in Fort Beaufort that was attended by most of the Thembu royalty as he was expected to take over his father’s position as a privy councilor.
Nelson Mandela’s Biography – As a Student
After completing his matriculating, he studied for B.A at the Fort Hare University. It is here that he met Oliver Tambo, his colleague and lifelong friend. It was during the end of his first year at the university that he became involved in a boycott by the Students' Representative Council against the university policies and was later asked to leave the university. It was during his imprisonment that Mandela studied for his Law degree and obtained it from the University of London External Program.
Nelson Mandela’s Biography – As an Activist/Political Figure
Mandela was the first president of South Africa who was elected in fairly held democratic elections. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, one who protested against the discrimination against the black people, and also served as a leader of the African National Congress and its wing Umkhonto we Sizwe. Before being elected as the president of the country, Mandela also served 27 years in jail, on Robben Island. He was accused of sabotage during his struggle against the discrimination of black people.
