After a happy childhood, filled with excellent education, Mandela became young and escaped from his tribe once he knew it had arranged a marriage for him.
He arrived in Johannesburg to study law, where he was confronted with the reality that his country lived: apartheid. It was a system of racial segregation imposed by the Afrikaners, the white minority of Dutch origin.
After graduating as a lawyer, Mandela began a path of social activism with youth groups attached to the political party of the African National Congress.
Their manifestations in public, with calls for civil disobedience to demand equal civil rights in favor of the afro civilization, made him gain prominence in South Africa.
In 1956 Mandela was first arrested and tried for treason. But only until 1962 he would be deprived of their freedom and imprisoned for a period of 27 years.
International pressure on the Government of South Africa was able to release Mandela in 1990. From there, his party, the African National Congress won the elections and he became as South Africa's first black president by universal suffrage. Their struggle to abolish the law of apartheid, and an end to racial discrimination in his country earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
He died at his 95 years, the 5th of December, 2013, becoming a figure so beloved and controversial, for his evolution as revolutionary/"terrorist" until democratic president. Their cause was recognized with more than 250 honorific mentions and a big amount of awards.
Ananda Antón Linares