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Nelson Mandela, the first African president of South Africa, was born in 1918. His father was an assistant to an important African chief, and as a young boy, Nelson often helped his father. While he listened to people telling the chief about their problems, Mandela decided he wanted to become a lawyer so that he could help his people with their struggle for freedom.
After high school. Mandela studied for a bachelor of law degree. In 1942, he started his political life by joining an organization called the ANC. "ANC" stands for African National Congress. The ANC fought against the laws of the South African government, because these laws made life difficult for black people. Even though most of the country's population was black, the people who ran the government and had all of the power were white. Over the next few years. he and other members of the organization worked hard, and the AN C became a powerful national movement. The group encouraged people to resist the government in a peaceful and non-violent way.
Mandela became deputy president of the ANC in 1952. He was now an important leader of black South Africans. As a lawyer, he helped poor people stay on the land where they lived, instead of being forced to move to areas where the government wanted them to live. He also fought against laws that said that black and white people could not live in the same areas or go to the same schools.
During the early 1960s, the government began watching Mandela carefully, and he was soon arrested. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1962. He was not released from prison until 1990. Even while he was in prison, he inspired people in his own country and others all over the world.
After he was released. Mandela continued to try to achieve the goals he had set almost forty years earlier. In 1994, he became the first democratically elected State President of South Africa. He remained president until he retired in 1999. Today, the world remembers him as South Africa's best known and best loved hero.
