Considered the father of modern-day South Africa, Nelson Mandela used his life as a platform. Whether as Prisoner 46664 or when becoming South Africa’s first democratically elected president, he advocated for racial equality, social justice and human rights.
Here are six facts you might not know about the Nobel Laureate.
1.
Before being released, Nelson Mandela withstood four trials,
was arrested several times, and experienced being held
in six different prisons/jails (including Robben Island).
2.
After studying law, Mandela became one of South Africa’s first Black lawyers.
In 1952, he opened the nation’s only Black law firm in Johannesburg.
3.
In 1985, Mandela was offered release by the apartheid government,
but only if he would retire and publicly renounce violence/protesting.
He refused the deal and remained imprisoned.
4.
In 1994, Mandela was able to vote for the first time at the age of 76.
5.
He started drafting the original manuscript for his book, Long Walk to Freedom
while still at Robben Island and Pollsmoor Prison.
6.
There are over 250 places around the world named after Mandela.
Locations include streets, bridges, national parks, buildings, highways,
neighborhoods, squares, and trails/pathways.
You can learn more facts via the Archive at the Nelson Mandela Foundation,
curated by the Centre of Memory.