"Rolihlahla Dalibhunga Mandela
was born on 18th July 1918,
in Qunu, Transkei, South Africa, into the royal family of the Tembu at
Qunu, near Umtata, in the Eastern Cape Province. His father was the principal
councillor to the Acting Paramount Chief of
Tembuland. He was given the English name Nelson at the mission school he
attended.
During the 1950s, Mandela was the victim of various forms of repression. He was banned, arrested and imprisoned. Between 1956 and 1961 he was one of the accused in the Treason Trial, which was at a significant cost to his legal practice and political work. Until this point Mandela and his co-accused had consistently advised their followers to adopt a peaceful course of action and to avoid all violence.
In 1961, with the ANC now illegal, the struggle against apartheid picked up threads from its underground headquarters. Nelson Mandela emerged at this time as the leading figure in this new phase of the struggle.
Moving from place to place, forced to live apart from his family to evade detection by the government informers and police spies, Mandela had to adopt a number of disguises - sometimes he dressed as a common labourer, at other times as a chauffeur. His successful evasion of the police earned him the title of the Black Pimpernel.
In 1961 Umkhonto we Sizwe was formed with Mandela as its commander-in-chief. In 1962 Mandela left the country unlawfully and
travelled abroad for several months. Not long after his return to South Africa, Mandela was arrested and charged with illegal exit from the country and incitement to strike.
He was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment. While serving his sentence, he was charged in the Rivonia Trial with sabotage. Mandela's statements in court during this trial are heralded as classic
speeches in the history of the resistance to apartheid and they have been an inspiration to all who have opposed it.
Now sentenced to life imprisonment, Mandela began his sentence in the notorious Robben Island Prison. Despite terrible provocation, he has never answered racism with racism. Released in 1990, Nelson Mandela became the first president of the newly democratic South Africa four years later."
All information provided by: Touch of Mandela
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| Studies
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After receiving a primary education at a local mission school, Nelson Mandela was sent to Healdtown where he matriculated. He then enrolled at Fort Hare University for a Bachelor of Arts Degree, where he was elected onto the Student's Representative council.
Mandela was suspended from university for joining in a protest boycott. After his suspension he went to Johannesburg where he completed his BA by correspondence. He took articles of clerkship and commenced study for his
LLB. It was during this time that he began taking a serious interest in politics.
2002 Started his training as an Artist.
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| His
life and career: (info. provided by
www.vgallery.co.za) |
| 2003
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Belgravia Gallery,
London
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| 2003
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Gateway
Gallery, V & A Waterfront, Cape Town
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| 2003
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Everard
Read Gallery, Cape Town
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| 2000
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Appointed as
mediator in the civil war in Burundi.
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| 1999
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Steps down as president of South Africa to make way for Thabo
Mbeki, who was nominated ANC president in 1997.
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| 1998
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Mandela marries Graca Machel on his 80th birthday.
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| 1997
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Mandela retires as president of the ANC.
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| 1996
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Divorces his wife
Winnie.
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| 1994
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Becomes the first black President of South Africa on 10th May 1994.
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| 1993
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Mandela is awarded the Nobel Peace Price jointly with FW de
Klerk.
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| 1991
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Becomes president of the ANC.
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| 1990
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ANC is
unbanned. 11 February 1990, Mandela is released from prison.
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| 1985
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Nelson Mandela offered conditional release, which he refuses.
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| 1982
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Moved from Robben Island prison to Pollsmoor Prison.
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| 1964
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While in prison Mandela is put on trial for treason and receives a life sentence.
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| 1962
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Arrested for 'inciting a strike' and receives a five-year prison sentence. Spends his first two weeks on Robben Island.
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| 1961
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Acquitted of treason. The ANC, now banned, moves underground. Umkhonto we Sizwe formed with Mandela as commander-in-chief.
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| 1958
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Mandela marries his second wife Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela
(Winnie).
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| 1956
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Arrested and charged with treason. One of the accused in the famous Treason Trial.
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| 1952
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Opens legal partnership with Oliver Tambo in Johannesburg.
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| 1944
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Mandela forms the Youth League of the ANC with Oliver Tambo and Walter
Sisulu. Marries his first wife, Evelyn Mase. They were divorced in 1957 after having three children.
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| 1943
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Joins the ANC, initially as an activist.
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| 1940
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Mandela expelled from Fort Hare University for taking part in a student protest.
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| Represented: |
Various private collections in South Africa and abroad
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| Today:
(info. provided by
www.vgallery.co.za) |
In 1993 he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for a life that symbolizes the triumph of the human spirit over man's inhumanity to man.
Nelson Mandela retired from public life in June 1999. He currently resides in his birthplace:
Qunu, Transkei. He is currently working on some new drawings and
just completed a series of Lithographs that will be
launched soon.
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