Mandela

Rolihlala Mandela was born in Qunu, in the Transkei. At the age of seven, he became the first member of his family to attend school, where he was given the English name "Nelson" by the Methodist teacher. His father died shortly after, and he attended a Wesleyan mission school next door to the palace of the Regent. He was initiated, as is the Xhosa custom, at age 16, and attended Clarkebury Boarding Institute, learning about Western culture. He completed his Junior Certificate in two years, instead of the usual three.

At age 19, in 1934, he moved to the Wesleyan College in Fort Beaufort, which most Thembu royalty attended, and took an interest in boxing and running. After matriculating, he began a BA degree at Fort Hare University, where he met Oliver Tambo, who became a lifelong friend and colleague.

At the end of his first year he became involved in a boycott of the Students' Representative Council against the university policies, and was asked to leave Fort Hare. He left to go to Johannesburg, where he completed his degree with the University of South Africa (UNISA) via correspondence, and thereafter began a Law degree at Wits University.

It was as a young law student that Mandela became involved in political opposition to the white minority regime's denial of political, social and economic rights to South Africa's black majority. Joining the African National Congress in 1942, he founded its more dynamic Youth League two years later together with Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo and others.

After the 1948 election victory of the Afrikaner-dominated National Party with its apartheid policy of racial segregation, Mandela was prominent in the ANC's 1952 Defiance Campaign and the 1955 Congress of the People, whose adoption of the Freedom Charter provided the fundamental programme of the anti-apartheid cause.

Initially committed to non-violent mass struggle and acquitted in the marathon Treason Trial of 1956 - 1961, Mandela and his colleagues accepted the case for armed action after the shooting of unarmed protesters at Sharpeville in March 1960 and the subsequent banning of the ANC and other anti-apartheid groups.

In 1961 he became the commander of the ANC's armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe ("Spear of the Nation", or MK). In August 1962 he was arrested and jailed for five years for illegal travel abroad and incitement to strike. In June 1964 he was sentenced again, this time to life imprisonment, for his involvement in planning armed action.

Refusing an offer of conditional release in return for renouncing armed struggle (February 1985), Mandela remained in prison until February 1990, when sustained ANC campaigning and international pressure led to his release on February 11 on the orders of state president F.W. de Klerk and the ending of the ban on the ANC. He and de Klerk shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

As president of the ANC (July 1991 - December 1997) and first black president of South Africa (May 1994 - June 1999), Mandela presided over the transition from minority rule and apartheid, winning international respect for his advocacy of national and international reconciliation, though the social achievements of his term of office disappointed some radicals, and there was criticism of the government's alleged ineffectiveness in stemming the AIDS crisis.

Mandela was also criticized for his close friendship with dictators such as Fidel Castro and Moammar_Al_Qadhafi, whom he called his "comrades in arms." His decision to commit South African troops to defeat the 1998 coup of Lesotho also remains a topic of some controversy.

Mandela has been married three times. His first marriage to Evelyn Ntoko Mase ended in divorce in 1957 after 13 years, and his 38-year marriage to Winnie Madikizela in separation (April 1992) and divorce (March 1996) fuelled by political estrangement. On his 80th birthday he married Graca Machel, widow of Samora Machel, the former Mozambican president and ANC ally killed in an air crash 15 years earlier.

After his retirement as President in 1999, Mandela went on to become an advocate for a variety of social, and human-rights organizations. He received many foreign honors, including the Order of St. John from Queen Elizabeth II and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush.

He is the only other person non-Indian origin (Mother Teresa being the other) to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in 1990.

In February 2003, Mandela declared the United States "a threat to world peace," and that President Bush wished to "plunge the world into holocaust." Mandela accused Bush of "ignoring the U.N." and speculated that this was occurring because the current Secretary General (Kofi Annan of Ghana) was "a black man." Further more he said:

"If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don't care for human beings,"

• Elected Honorary President of the Students' Union, University College, London

• Elected Honorary President of the Students' Union, University of Leeds

• A nuclear particle discovered at the University of Leeds named the Mandela particle

• Honorary life membership of the Students' Union of the University of London

• Awarded Honorary Doctorate of Law, University of Lesotho, Maseru, 29 September

• Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding, New Delhi, India, 14 November

• Freedom of the City of Glasgow, 4 August.
• Road named after Mandela by the London Borough of Brent
• Dr Bruno Kreisky Prize for merit in the field of human rights, Vienna, Austria

• Elected Honorary Life President of the Students' Union at the London School of Economics and Political Science

• Honorary citizenship of Rome, February.
• Honorary citizenship of Olympia, Greece, 17 March
• Honorary Doctorate of Laws. City College of New York, 5 June
• City Council of Dublin, Ireland, unveiled sculpture in a city park by Elisabeth Frink dedicated to Nelson Mandela, 26 June
• Award of the order Star of International Friendship in gold by the German Democratic Republic, 18 July
• City Council of Harlow, United Kingdom, renamed one of its major roads in honour of Nelson Mandela, 18 July
• AUEW (TASS), one of Britain's major trade unions, held a special ceremony to rename their executive committee room the 'Nelson Mandela Room', 18 July
• Freedom of London Borough of Greenwich, 20 July
• UNESCO awards its first Simon Bolivar International Prize jointly to Nelson Mandela and King Juan Carlos of Spain at a ceremony in Caracas, Venezuela, on the 200th anniversary of the birth of Bolivar, 24 July
• City Council of Leeds, Britain, names the Civic Hall 'Nelson Mandela Gardens', 10 December
• Park in Hull, Britain, named 'Mandela Park'
• Honorary LL.D, University of Lancaster, Britain
• City of Cardiff, Wales, named a street after Nelson Mandela
• The students of [[Warwick University], Coventry and South Bank Polytechnic Students Union named rooms in honour of Nelson Mandela
• New York City renamed square in front of South African mission to the United Nations 'Nelson and Winnie Mandela Plaza'

• Honorary Degree, Free University of Brussels, 13 January
• Camden Borough Council, London, names the street where the Anti-Apartheid Movement has its headquarters as 'Mandela Street'.
• Hackney Council, London, renames a housing block after Nelson Mandela, April
• Playa Giron Award, Cuba, awarded by Fidel Castro
• Honorary membership of National and Local Government Officers Association [NALGO] Britain
• Haringey Borough Council, London, names housing development after Nelson Mandela
• Monument to Nelson Mandela unveiled in Merrion Square, Dublin
• Elected Honorary Member of the Students Association, University of Strathclyde, Scotland
• Freedom of the City of Wijnegen, Belgium
• Awarded Star of International Friendship, German Democratic Republic, 27 August
• Freedom of the City of Aberdeen conferred on both Nelson and Winnie Mandela, 29 November
• School in German Democratic Republic named 'Nelson Mandela School'

• Revenue Staff Federation, Britain, names its Commonwealth trade union scholarship after Nelson Mandela
• London Borough of Southwark names new road 'Mandela Way'
• Nottingham City Council names a room in a sports centre
• The 1985 Third World Prize, awarded annually by the London-based Third World Foundation for Social and Economic Studies, awarded jointly to Nelson and Winnie Mandela
• Awarded freedom of the City of Hull, UK.
• Awarded the Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize by Human Rights Institute of The Bar of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France, 29 March
• Nigerian writers organisation, Writers and Journalists Against Apartheid (WAJAAP), confers title of Life Patron
• City of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, UK, renames its speakers' corner Nelson Mandela Corner, September
• Freedom of the City of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October
• Honorary citizenship of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October
• Diploma of Honour and Friendship from the University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October
• Statue of Nelson Mandela erected in London by Greater London Council, unveiled by Oliver Tambo on 28 October
• Senegal's President Abdou Diouf inaugurates Soweto Square and Nelson Mandela Avenue in the centre of Dakar, 6 December
• Awarded Doctor of Laws degree by Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria, December

• Elected Honorary Life President of the National Union of Mineworkers of South Africa
• Awarded the W E B DuBois International Medal by the [[National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People] (NAACP)
• Coventry City Council named new building after Mandela
• Presented with the Alfonso Comin Foundation Peace Award in Barcelona, Spain
• Freedom of the Borough of Islwyn, Wales, given to Winnie and Nelson Mandela
• Awarded International Peace and Freedom Award by the Workers International Centre, Stockholm Sweden
• Awarded, with Winnie Mandela, the Third World Prize by the Strategic and International Studies Group of Malaysia, 5 May
• Honorary Doctorate of Laws, University of Zimbabwe
• Park in Leicester, England, named after Mandela
• Honorary membership awarded to Winnie and Nelson Mandela by the National Union of Seamen, Britain
• Street in Glasgow, Scotland, where South African Consulate is sited, renamed after Mandela

• First person to receive the Freedom of the City of Sydney, Australia, 9 January.
• Honorary Degrees, Winnie and Nelson Mandela, United States Ross University Medical School in the Caribbean
• Named Patron of Isipingo and District Football Association, Natal
• Honorary Degree, University of Michigan, USA
• Honorary Degree. University of Havana, Cuba
• Honorary Citizen, City of Florence, Italy
• Honorary Doctorate, Karl Marx University of the German Democratic Republic, Leipzig, 11 November

• Awarded Bremen Solidarity Prize, Federal Republic of Germany
• Nelson and Winnie Mandela given honorary membership of the National Union of Teachers, Great Britain
• Awarded freedom of the City of Dublin, Ireland
• Awarded the Sakharov Prize
• Honorary Doctorate conferred, University of Carabobo, Venezuela, June
• People of Levkada, Greece, award the Medal of Peace, August
• Honorary citizenship conferred by nine Greek municiplaities: Egaleo, Ellenikon, Glyfada, Ilioupolis, Daissariani, New Filadelfia, Nikaea, Preveza and Zogrofu
• Honorary degree in Political Science awarded by the University of Bologna, Italy, 12 September
• Honorary citizenship bestowed by the Town Council of the city of Bologna, Italy, September
• Awarded the United Nations Human Rights Fourth Award, 10 December
• 'Nelson Mandela Road' named, New Delhi, India, 10 December

• Agusto Cesar Sandino Award bestowed by Daniel Ortega, President of Nicaragua, Managua, 21 February
• Freedom of the Municipality of KweKwe, Zimbabwe, conferred. Award received by Oliver Tambo
• Awarded Peace Prize of the Tipperary Peace Committee, Ireland
• Nuremberg Platz renamed 'Nelson Mandela Platz', Nuremberg, Germany, June
• Honorary Doctorate of Laws, York University, Toronto, Canada, 16 June
• Square in Clayes-sous-Bois, France, named 'Nelson Mandela Square', September

• Made Honorary Life President of National Union of Mineworkers when he addressed its Central Committee, 21 April
• Granted freedom of the City of Harare, Zimbabwe, March
• 'Mandela Day', a public holiday declared in Zimbabwe on 5 March
• Awarded the Lenin Peace Prize for 1990, May
• Bestowed the Dr Antonio Agostinho Neto Order, the highest honour of the People's Republic of Angola, 12 May
• Bestowed the award 'Grand Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria', Lagos, 14 May
• Awarded Al-Qadafi International Prize for Human Rights in Tripoli, Libya, 19 or 20 May
• Honorary degree in political science by the Cairo University, Egypt, May
• Bestowed 'Bharat Ratna', India's highest civilian award, October
• Doctorate, honoris causa, conferred by University of Malaya, November
• Honorary Doctorate in law, University of Western Cape, Bellville, Cape Town, 28 November

• Honorary LL.D Degree conferred, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 6 September
• Awarded Carte-Menil Human Rights Prize, 8 December

• Received 1991 UNESCO Peace Prize, Paris, 3 February
• Installed as Chancellor of the University of the North, 25 April
• Honorary LL.D Degree conferred by the University of Fort Hare, 9 May
• Honorary Doctorate conferred at the Sheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, Senegal, 30 June
• Presented with the Freedom of Miami Beach Medallion of Honour, Johannesburg, 29 September
• Pakistan conferred the Nishan-i-Pakistan Award, 3 October
• Asturias Prize of International Co-operation awarded, Oviedo, Spain, 31 October
• Received the "Spirit of Liberty" award at the "People for the American Way" award ceremony, 8 November

• Received Gleitsman Foundation International Activist Award, Johannesburg, 12 May
• Received, with President F W de Klerk, Philadelphia Liberty Medal Award. Presented by President Clinton, Philadelphia, USA, 4 July
• Honorary Degree conferred, Clark University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 10 July
• Received Apostolic Humanitarian Award, Johannesburg, 15 September
• Honorary Doctorate of Laws, Soochow University, Taiwan, 1 August
• Awarded J William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding, Washington, 1 October
• Received Honorary Degree from the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, 8 October
• Awarded Nobel Peace Prize, Oslo, Norway, 10 December

• Received the New Nation/Engen Man of the Year Flame of Distinction award, 24 March
• Elected Newsmaker of the Year, with Deputy President F W de Klerk, by the Johannesburg Press Club, 25 May. Prof Kader Asmal received the award on 29 September
• Received the Hunger Project's 8th annual Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger, London, 19 July
• Received Anne Frank medal for human rights and tolerance, Johannesburg, 15 August
• Received Sheikh Yusuf Peace Award from the Moslem Women's Federation, 10 September
• Received the Arthur A Houghton Star Crystal Award for Excellence from the African-American Institute, 6 October
• Honorary Doctorate, Howard University, 7 October
• Received freedom of the town of Tongaat, KwaZulu-Natal, 21 October (initially granted in 1989)
• Received the Olympic Gold Order from International Olympic Committee president, Juan Antonio Samaranch, Cape Town, 16 November
• Received Man of the Year Award from the Greek Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Southern Africa, Johannesburg, 19 November 1994
• Honorary Doctorate awarded by University of South Africa
• Awarded the "Commonwealth Champion of Health" medal, received by South African athletes at the Commonwealth Games, Canada

• Africa Peace Award - sponsored jointly by the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) - presented at a ceremony in Durban, March
• 'Nelson Mandela Road' to Katse, Lesotho, inaugurated, 13 July
• Received Pretoria Press Club's 1994 Newsmaker of the Year Award, Pretoria, 20 July
• Granted the Freedom of Uitenhage, Uitenhage, 14 September
• Awarded Honorary Fellowship of the College of Medicine of South Africa, Johannesburg, 17 October
• Harvard Business School Statesman of the Year Award, 14 December
• Human Rights Institute, with President Mandela as honorary chairman, launched in London by the International Bar Association, December 1995

• Awarded honorary fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin, Ireland
• Indira Gandhi Award for International Justice and Harmony bestowed. Award received by Justice Minister Dullah Omar in New Delhi, India, January
• U Thant Peace Award bestowed by Sri Chinmoy, 29 January
• Awarded the National Order of Mali (Grande Croix), Mali's highest decoration, Bamako, 3 March
• Received the Freedom of the City of London, London, 10 July
• Received Honorary Degrees from the Universities of Bristol, Cambridge, de Montfort, Glasgow, Caledonian, London, Nottingham, Oxford and Warwick, Buckingham Palace, London, 10 July
• Received Honorary Doctorate from Sorbonne University, Paris, 15 July
• Received Honorary Doctorate from Stellenbosch University, 25 October
• Received the Freedom of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, 29 November

• Awarded Honorary Degree by the University of the Philippines, Manila, 2 March
• Received Freedom of the City of Pietermaritzburg, 25 April
• Received Freedom of the City of Bloemfontein, 16 May
• Baker Avenue in Central Harare, Zimbabwe, Renamed Nelson Mandela Avenue, 19 May
• Received Freedom of Boksburg, 26 June
• Received Freedom of Oxford, UK, 11 July
• Awarded Honorary Doctorate from Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, 17 July
• Awarded Honorary Doctorate by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Cape Town, 19 September
• Received the American Public Health Association Presidential Citation, Pretoria, 14 October
• Awarded the Collar of the Nile by President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Cairo, 21 October
• Received Freedom of City of Edinburgh, Scotland, 27 October
• Received Freedom of City of Cape Town, 27 November
• Received Honorary Degree from the University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 4 December

• Received Honorary Doctoral Degree from the University of South Australia,University of Fort Hare, 23 April
• Awarded Honorary Doctorate, University of Zululand, 30 May
• Awarded the Freedom of the City and County of Cardiff, Cardiff, 16 June
• Awarded the Chris Hani Award at the 10th National Congress of the South African Communist Party, Johannesburg, 1 July
• Awarded Honorary Degree by the University of Mauritius, 11 September
• Awarded Honorary Doctorate by Harvard University, Boston, 18 September
• Awarded Congressional Gold Medal, Washington, 23 September
• Awarded Canada's highest honour, appointment to the Order of Canada, 24 September
• Presented with Award in Recognition of his Contribution to Democracy, Human Rights and Freedom by the Supreme Council of Sport in Africa, 19 November

• Received the Deutscher Medienpreis, Baden Baden, Germany, 28 January
• Awarded the Oneness-Peace: Earth-Summit-Transcendence-Fragrance Award, Pretoria, 9 March
• Received the Golden Medal of the City of Amsterdam, Netherlands, 10 March
• Received honorary doctorate from Leiden University, the Netherlands, 12 March
• Awarded the Freedom of the City of Durban, Durban, 16 April
• Received Honorary Doctorate from the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 30 April
• Received Ukraine's Highest Decoration, the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, Cape Town, 5 May
• Appointed Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia, Canberra, 9 June
• Received Jesse Owens Global Award, Johannesburg, 21 September
• Received insignia of Honour from the African Renaissance Institute, Johannesburg, 11 October
• Received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Botswana, Gaborone, 14 October
• Received the Baker Institute Enron Prize for Distinguished Public Service at Rice University, Houston, 26 October
• Awarded the Freedom of the City of Lydenburg, Lydenburg, 3 November
• Received the Order of Australia from Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Pretoria, 15 November
• Presented with the Temple of Understanding Annual Award to Religious and Political Leaders for Outstanding Service to Humanity, Cape Town, 5 December
• Presented with the Gandhi-King Award by the World Movement for Non-violence at the Parliament of World Religions, Cape Town, 5 December

• Awarded the Queen's Council by the House of Lords, United Kingdom, 3 May
• Awarded SABS Gold Medal, Sandton, 10 June
• BT Ethnic Multicultural Media Award, London, 29 June
• Received World Methodist Peace Award, London, 29 June
• International Freedom Award, Memphis, Tennessee, 22 November

• International Ghandi Peace Prize, Presidential Palace, New Delhi, 16 March
• Made an Honorary Freeman of Leeds, 30 April
• Made an Honorary Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge, 2 May
• Awarded the first King Shaka Award in recognition of bravery, 25 July 2001
• Park Public School renamed Mandela Park Public School, Toronto, Canada, 17 November
• Received honorary doctorate of law from Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada, 17 November
• Granted Honorary Citizenship of Canada, 19 November
• Awarded the LLD Honoris Cause from the University of the Free State
• Awarded the D Tech Education Honoris Cause from the Technikon Free State
• Human Rights Lifetime Achievement award by the SA Human Rights Commission, Johannesburg, 11 December

• Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Law from Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa, 6 April
• Awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Ghana, South Africa, 24 April
• Awarded the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Freedom Medal, Middleburg, The Netherlands, 8 June.
• Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award, by George W Bush, Washington, USA, 9 July

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