Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (pronounced Xhosa whose name the tribal clan "Madiba", born July 18, 1918 in Mvezo (Cape) and died December 5, 2013 in Johannesburg (Gauteng) is a South statesman Africa and was one of the historical leaders of the struggle against the institutional political system of racial segregation (apartheid) before becoming President of the Republic of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, following the first national election not racial history of the country.Nelson Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 19431, to fight against the political domination of the white minority and racial segregation led by it. Became a lawyer, he participated in the nonviolent struggle against the laws of Apartheid, established by the National Party government in 1948. The ANC was banned in 1960, and the peaceful struggle Non results tangible, Mandela founded and directed the military wing of the ANC, Umkhonto we Sizwe, in 1961, leading a campaign of sabotage and terrorist actions against public facilities and military. On 5 August 1962, he was arrested by the South African Police indication of the CIA, and then sentenced to prison and hard labor for life at the Rivonia Trial. Therefore, it becomes a symbol of the struggle for racial equality and enjoys a growing international support.After twenty-seven years' imprisonment in often harsh conditions and after refusing to be released to remain consistent with his convictions, Mandela was released on February 11, 1990. If so inspiring thought ubuntu in which he was high, it supports reconciliation and negotiation with the government of President Frederik de Klerk. In 1993, he received with it the Nobel Peace Prize for jointly and peacefully ended the apartheid regime and laid the foundation of a new South Africa démocratiqueN 1.
