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Mandela " Rolihlahlah" as a baby. He was born July 1918 in Mvezo, South Africa. It translates to "pulling branches off a tree."

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From a young age, Mandela was exposed to the politics of class. He was part of the Royal Family, born into the Thembu Kingdom. Dad was a local chief and councilor to the monarch.

Though he came from a royal background he was a hardworking boy who would tend cattle, gathered honey, and was down to earth making friends easily and was often spotted playing "Nguni stick fighting" a form of martial arts played among young south african children.

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Mandela playing "Nguni stick-fighting" a favorite past time with young boys. 

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Mandela attended a Methodist mission school attached to the Thembu Palace where he was studying English, Xhosa, History, and Geography. He was also very big on sports such as running and track.

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Mandela attending mission school where he was given the English name “Nelson”. Thus "Nelson Mandela" was born. 

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When his father died when he was 12, his mother took him to the “Great Place” palace where Thembu regent Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo had guardianship over him. They would attend church every Sunday, and thus Christianity became a significant part of his life.

While in school he developed a love of African history, listening to the tales told by elderly visitors to the palace, and was influenced by the anti-imperialist rhetoric of a visiting chief, Joyi. Through listening to these tales of wars of resistance he started to dream of the days he too would be amongst those to evoke change.

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Young Mandela boxing at the “D.O” or known now as the Soweto YMCA

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It was in boxing that Mandela came to lose himself in sports to take his mind off liberation politics. Even in his young adulthood, Mandela kept up with sports using it as a way to blow off steam. He found “it was a way of losing [himself] in something that was not the struggle. And even when later during his years of imprisonment Mandela still kept up with his active regimen.

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Young Mandela at Fort Hare University graduating in 1943.

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Mandela attended the University of Fort Hare. The school fostered the building, education, and development of many young black South Africans. It has a lot of historical history such as being “originally an old English fort, and played a part in the Boer War.” It was an elite South African school that was the only “Western-style” higher education available to black citizens in the country. 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. He returned in 1943 to graduate. He then went on to study law at the University of Witwatersrand and it was there that his interest in politics was heavily influenced and would lead him down the path of his further work in the activism field.

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ANC meeting outside Johannesburg Courtroom

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Mandela, while increasingly politically involved from 1942, only joined the African National Congress in 1944 when he helped to form the ANC Youth League (ANCYL). Nelson Mandela never wavered in his devotion to democracy, equality, and learning. Despite terrible provocation, he never answered racism with racism. This group later used their influence along with Mandela to “ institute passive resistance including nonviolent protests, boycotts and non-confirmation to apartheid police and rules”, in 1948 after the government passed the apartheid laws introducing segregation.

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Mandela's rare visits from his comrades.

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Mandela battled to end apartheid in South Africa, and as a result, he spent some of his later years in prison. After being found guilty on June 11, 1964, life sentences were handed down to Mandela and the other seven defendants, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba, Denis Goldberg, Elias Motsoaledi, and Andrew Mlangeni.

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Mandela sworn in as President May 10 1994. 

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May 10 1994 He was inaugurated as South Africa’s first democratically elected President. In 1999 after one term as President, he stepped down and continued to work with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund he set up in 1995 and established the Nelson Mandela Foundation and The Mandela Rhodes Foundation. He died on December 5 2013 in his home in Johannesburg.

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Extracts from Nelson Mandela's statement from the dock at the opening of his trial on charges of sabotage at the supreme court of South Africa in Pretoria on 20 April 1964. Mandela, leader of the African National Congress and of the struggle against the racist apartheid regime, was given a life sentence, of which he served 27 years, most of which was in the prison on Robben Island

* Find out more about the speech

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Nelson Mandela, 1964: 'I am prepared to die' - audio recording of speech at sabotage trial

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Extracts from Nelson Mandela's statement from the dock at the opening of his trial on charges of sabotage at the supreme court of South Africa in Pretoria on 20 April 1964

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If he were to look back now would he think the sacrifices made worth it? Loss of marriage? loss of life (27 years in jail)? Loss of friends? What would you give up for a cause? what would be your limit?