Mandela, Nelson, 1918-2013

Rolihlahla Mandela was born into the Madiba clan in the village of Mvezo, in the Eastern Cape, on 18 July 1918. His mother was Nonqaphi Nosekeni and his father was Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela, principal counsellor to the Acting King of the Thembu people, Jongintaba Dalindyebo. In 1930, when he was 12 years old, his father died and the young Rolihlahla became a ward of Jongintaba at the Great Place in Mqhekezweni; attended primary school in Qunu where his teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave him the name Nelson; 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 completed his BA through the University of South Africa and went back to Fort Hare for his graduation in 1943; began studying for an LLB at the University of the Witwatersrand. By his own admission he was a poor student and left the university in 1952 without graduating. He only started studying again through the University of London after his imprisonment in 1962 but also did not complete that degree, In 1989, while in the last months of his imprisonment, he obtained an LLB through the University of South Africa. He graduated in absentia at a ceremony in Cape Town; joined the African National Congress in 1944 when he helped to form the ANC Youth League (ANCYL); In 1944 he married Walter Sisulu’s cousin, Evelyn Mase, a nurse. They had two sons, Madiba Thembekile "Thembi" and Makgatho, and two daughters both called Makaziwe, the first of whom died in infancy. He and his wife divorced in 1958; A two-year diploma in law on top of his BA allowed Mandela to practise law, and in August 1952 he and Oliver Tambo established South Africa’s first black law firm, Mandela & Tambo; Mandela was arrested in a countrywide police swoop on 5 December 1956, which led to the 1956 Treason Trial; Mandela married a social worker, Winnie Madikizela, on 14 June 1958. They had two daughters, Zenani and Zindziswa. The couple divorced in 1996; Days before the end of the Treason Trial, Mandela travelled to Pietermaritzburg to speak at the All-in Africa Conference, which resolved that he should write to Prime Minister Verwoerd requesting a national convention on a non-racial constitution, and to warn that should he not agree there would be a national strike against South Africa becoming a republic. After he and his colleagues were acquitted in the Treason Trial, Mandela went underground and began planning a national strike for 29, 30 and 31 March; On 11 January 1962, using the adopted name David Motsamayi, Mandela secretly left South Africa; He was charged with leaving the country without a permit and inciting workers to strike. He was convicted and sentenced to five years' imprisonment, which he began serving at the Pretoria Local Prison. On 27 May 1963 he was transferred to Robben Island and returned to Pretoria on 12 June. Within a month police raided Liliesleaf, a secret hideout in Rivonia, Johannesburg, used by ANC and Communist Party activists, and several of his comrades were arrested. On 9 October 1963 Mandela joined 10 others on trial for sabotage in what became known as the Rivonia Trial; On 11 June 1964 Mandela and seven other accused, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba, Denis Goldberg, Elias Motsoaledi and Andrew Mlangeni, were convicted and the next day were sentenced to life imprisonment. Goldberg was sent to Pretoria Prison because he was white, while the others went to Robben Island; released from its gates on Sunday 11 February 1990, nine days after the unbanning of the ANC and the PAC and nearly four months after the release of his remaining Rivonia comrades. Throughout his imprisonment he had rejected at least three conditional offers of release. Mandela immersed himself in official talks to end white minority rule and in 1991 was elected ANC President to replace his ailing friend, Oliver Tambo. In 1993 he and President FW de Klerk jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize and on 27 April 1994 he voted for the first time in his life; On 10 May 1994 he was inaugurated as South Africa’s first democratically elected President. On his 80th birthday in 1998 he married Graça Machel, his third wife; He died at his home in Johannesburg on 5 December 2013

BA at University of Fort Hare; studied law at University of the Witwatersrand but did not complete - in 1952 he was excluded for non-payment of fees. In those days one could practise law by being articled to a law firm and having a BA degree – which Madiba fulfilled. He was articled by the law firm Witkin, Sidelsky and Eidelman, and was admitted as an attorney of the court in March 1952, and opened his law firm later in the year with Oliver Tambo; Madiba finally got his LLB in 1989 a few months before his release from the University of South Africa (UNISA); Whilst serving his sentence he was charged for sabotage in what became known as the Rivonia Trial and was given a life sentence with seven other leaders on 12 June 1964.

I've had a brief look at SNAC and the Mandela entry and there are few errors in the bio. It has never been conclusively proven that Mandela was a member or the SACP, and Madiba himself has said that he wasn't. He joined the ANC in 1944 not in 1943. He was arrested in 1962 and was charged for leaving the country illegally and inciting workers to strike for which he received a 5 year sentence. Whilst serving this sentence he was charged for sabotage in the Rivonia trial and received a life sentence. Most people get this wrong including the movie Long Walk!