Nelson Mandela Biography: Family, Age, Early Life, Education, Career, Net worth

Nelson Mandela Biography

Nelson Mandela Biography: Nelson Mandela known As Rolihlahla Mandela was born into the Madiba clan in the village of Mvezo, in the Eastern Cape, on 18 July 1918. His mother was Nonqaphi Nosekeni and his father was Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela, principal counsellor to the Acting King of the Thembu people, Jongintaba Dalindyebo. In 1930, when he was 12 years old, his father died and the young Rolihlahla became a ward of Jongintaba at the Great Place in Mqhekezweni1.

Hearing the elders’ stories of his ancestors’ valour during the wars of resistance, he dreamed also of making his own contribution to the freedom struggle of his people.

Nelson Mandela Early Life

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in Mvezo, a small village on the banks of the Mbashe River in the Eastern Cape Province. He was born into the Madiba clan, son of Nonqaphi Nosekeni and Gladla Henry Mphakanyiswa, the chief of Mvezo and an advisor to the kings.

Mandela was the first in his family to receive a formal education. After primary school, he attended the University of Fort Hare, the only Western-style academic education for South African blacks at the time. At Fort Hare, he studied English, anthropology, politics, native administration, and Roman-Dutch law. Due to his involvement in a student protest, he was expelled in 1940 and did not complete his degree at the University. However, Mandela later completed his degree at the University of South Africa.

Following his expulsion, Mandela moved to Johannesburg in 1941. This move opened his eyes not only to an industrial city but also to a nation of injustice based on racial segregation. For the first time, he saw himself as a black man in a white society. He began working as a law clerk with Walter Sisulu, a prominent black businessman active in the African National Congress (ANC). It wasn’t until 1944 that Mandela joined the ANC and helped form the ANC Youth League (ANCYL). In 1947, he was elected to his first position in the ANC as the Executive Committee.

After the election of 1948, the National Party gained power in South Africa. Consequently, this began a formal system of racial classification and segregation – the system of apartheid. This system restricted nonwhites’ basic rights and barred them from participating in government as a way to maintain a white minority rule. Mandela’s commitment to politics and the ANC grew stronger after this election.

By 1952, Mandela was President of the ANCYL and had drawn much attention from the South African government. Subsequently, he was served a banning order that restricted his freedom of speech and movement. The order banned Mandela from attending public meetings or discussing important national matters with more than one person at a time. This was an attempt by the government to break apart the ANC. As the oppression increased, so did Mandela’s efforts of defiance. In June 1952, he led the Campaign for the Defiance of Unjust Laws, where groups throughout South Africa executed various acts of defiance in main cities. It was the first large-scale, multi-racial political mobilization against the apartheid laws. Mandela fought the Apartheid system both politically and professionally. That same year, he and his colleague Oliver Tambo, an ANC leader, established the first black law practices that specialized in cases affected by the apartheid legislation.

Nelson Mandela Age

Nelson Mandela was born on the 18th July 1918

Nelson Mandela Education

He attended primary school in Qunu where his teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave him the name Nelson, in accordance with the custom of giving all schoolchildren “Christian” names.

He completed his Junior Certificate at Clarke bury Boarding Institute and went on to Healdtown, a Wesleyan secondary school of some repute, where he matriculated.

Mandela began his studies for a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University College of Fort Hare but did not complete the degree there as he was expelled for joining in a student protest.

On his return to the Great Place at Mqhekezweni the King was furious and said if he didn’t return to Fort Hare he would arrange wives for him and his cousin Justice. They ran away to Johannesburg instead, arriving there in 1941. There he worked as a mine security officer and after meeting Walter Sisulu, an estate agent, he was introduced to Lazer Sidelsky. He then did his articles through a firm of attorneys – Witkin, Eidelman and Sidelsky.

He completed his BA through the University of South Africa and went back to Fort Hare for his graduation in 1943.

Meanwhile, he began studying for an LLB at the University of the Witwatersrand. By his own admission he was a poor student and left the university in 1952 without graduating. He only started studying again through the University of London after his imprisonment in 1962 but also did not complete that degree.

In 1989, while in the last months of his imprisonment, he obtained an LLB through the University of South Africa. He graduated in absentia at a ceremony in Cape Town.

Nelson Mandela Career

Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, politician, and statesman who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. 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 fostering racial reconciliation. Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he served as the president of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997.

Nelson Mandela personal life

Mandela was widely considered a charismatic leader, described by biographer Mary Benson as “a born mass leader who could not help magnetizing people”.He was highly image conscious and throughout his life always sought out fine quality clothes, with many commentators believing that he carried himself in a regal manner.His aristocratic heritage was repeatedly emphasised by supporters, thus contributing to his “charismatic power”.While living in Johannesburg in the 1950s, he cultivated the image of the “African gentleman”, having “the pressed clothes, correct manners, and modulated public speech” associated with such a position. In doing so, Lodge argued that Mandela became “one of the first media politicians … embodying a glamour and a style that projected visually a brave new African world of modernity and freedom”.Mandela was known to change his clothes several times a day, and he became so associated with highly coloured Batik shirts after assuming the presidency that they came to be known as “Madiba shirts”.

For political scientists Betty Glad and Robert Blanton, Mandela was an “exceptionally intelligent, shrewd, and loyal leader”.His official biographer, Anthony Sampson, commented that he was a “master of imagery and performance”, excelling at presenting himself well in press photographs and producing sound bites.His public speeches were presented in a formal, stiff manner, and often consisted of cliched set phrases.He typically spoke slowly, and carefully chose his words.Although he was not considered a great orator, his speeches conveyed “his personal commitment, charm and humour”.

Mandela was a private person who often concealed his emotions and confided in very few people.Privately, he lived an austere life, refusing to drink alcohol or smoke, and even as president made his own bed.Renowned for his mischievous sense of humour,he was known for being both stubborn and loyal, and at times exhibited a quick temper.He was typically friendly and welcoming, and appeared relaxed in conversation with everyone, including his opponents. A self-described Anglophile, he claimed to have lived by the “trappings of British style and manners”. Constantly polite and courteous, he was attentive to all, irrespective of their age or status, and often talked to children or servants.He was known for his ability to find common ground with very different communities.In later life, he always looked for the best in people, even defending political opponents to his allies, who sometimes thought him too trusting of others.He was fond of Indian cuisine and had a lifelong interest in archaeology and boxing.

He was raised in the Methodist denomination of Christianity; the Methodist Church of Southern Africa claimed that he retained his allegiance to them throughout his life. On analysing Mandela’s writings, the theologian Dion Forster described him as a Christian humanist, although added that his thought relied to a greater extent on the Southern African concept of Ubuntu than on Christian theology.According to Sampson, Mandela never had “a strong religious faith” however,while Elleke Boehmer stated that Mandela’s religious belief was “never robust”.

Mandela was very self-conscious about being a man and regularly made references to manhood.He was heterosexual,and biographer Fatima Meer said that he was “easily tempted” by women.Another biographer, Martin Meredith, characterized him as being “by nature a romantic”, highlighting that he had relationships with various women.Mandela was married three times, fathered six children, and had seventeen grandchildren and at least seventeen great-grandchildren.He could be stern and demanding of his children, although he was more affectionate with his grandchildren.His first marriage was to Evelyn Ntoko Mase in October 1994 they divorced in March 1958 under the multiple strains of his alleged adultery and constant absences, devotion to revolutionary agitation, and the fact that she was a Jehovah’s Witness, a religion requiring political neutrality. Mandela’s second wife was the social worker Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, whom he married in June 1958. They divorced in March 1996.Mandela married his third wife, Graça Machel, on his 80th birthday in July 1998.

Nelson Mandela Net worth

His estate, which includes properties in Johannesburg and the Eastern Cape, has been provisionally valued at 46 million rand (£2.53m), estate executor Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Mosenke revealed. The total value is likely to increase as royalties from his autobiography continue to flow in.