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Early life and work

Underground activity and the rivonia trial.

• Incarceration
• Presidency and retirement

When and where was Nelson Mandela born?

When did nelson mandela die, what is nelson mandela known for, to whom was nelson mandela married, what publications did nelson mandela write.

Nelson Mandela

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• Official Site of the Nelson Mandela Foundation
• The Elders - Nelson Mandela
• South African History Online - Biography of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
• The Nobel Prize - Biography of Nelson Mandela
• Nelson Mandela - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
• Nelson Mandela - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
• Table Of Contents

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, also known as Madiba, was born Rolihlahla Mandela on July 18, 1918, in Mvezo, South Africa; the name Nelson was later added by one of his teachers. His father, the chief of the Madiba clan of the Xhosa -speaking Tembu people, died when Nelson was still young, and he was raised by Jongintaba, the regent of the Tembu. Although Nelson had a claim to the chieftainship, he renounced it in order to become a lawyer.

Nelson Mandela died on December 5, 2013, in Johannesburg . He was 95 years old. After his death was announced, his life was remembered and celebrated in South Africa as well as around the world. Numerous memorial services were held, including one by the South African government on December 10. He was laid to rest at Qunu, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province, on December 15.

Nelson Mandela is known for several things, but perhaps he is best known for successfully leading the resistance to South Africa’s policy of apartheid in the 20th century, during which he was infamously incarcerated at Robben Island Prison (1964–82). He won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993, along with South Africa’s president at the time, F.W. de Klerk , for having led the transition from apartheid to a multiracial democracy. Mandela is also known for being the first black president of South Africa, serving from 1994 to 1999.

Nelson Mandela had three wives: Evelyn Ntoko Mase (1944–58); Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (1958–96), who was also a noteworthy anti- apartheid champion; and Graça Machel (1998–2013), who was the widow of Samora Machel , former president of Mozambique (1975–86), and was Mandela’s wife at the time of his death in 2013.

Nelson Mandela’s writings included I Am Prepared to Die (1964; rev. ed. 1986); No Easy Walk to Freedom (1965; updated ed. 2002); The Struggle Is My Life (1978; rev. ed. 1990); In His Own Words (2003); and Long Walk to Freedom (1994), which chronicles his early life and years in prison. Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years (2017), released posthumously, is the unfinished draft of his second volume of memoirs; it was completed by Mandla Langa.

Nelson Mandela (born July 18, 1918, Mvezo, South Africa—died December 5, 2013, Johannesburg) was a Black nationalist and the first Black president of South Africa (1994–99). His negotiations in the early 1990s with South African Pres. F.W. de Klerk helped end the country’s apartheid system of racial segregation and ushered in a peaceful transition to majority rule. Mandela and de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993 for their efforts.

Nelson Mandela was the son of Chief Henry Mandela of the Madiba clan of the Xhosa-speaking Tembu people. After his father’s death, young Nelson was raised by Jongintaba, the regent of the Tembu. Nelson renounced his claim to the chieftainship to become a lawyer. He attended South African Native College (later the University of Fort Hare) and studied law at the University of the Witwatersrand; he later passed the qualification exam to become a lawyer. In 1944 he joined the African National Congress (ANC), a Black-liberation group, and became a leader of its Youth League. That same year he met and married Evelyn Ntoko Mase. Mandela subsequently held other ANC leadership positions, through which he helped revitalize the organization and oppose the apartheid policies of the ruling National Party .

In 1952 in Johannesburg , with fellow ANC leader Oliver Tambo , Mandela established South Africa’s first Black law practice, specializing in cases resulting from the post-1948 apartheid legislation. Also that year, Mandela played an important role in launching a campaign of defiance against South Africa’s pass laws, which required nonwhites to carry documents (known as passes, pass books, or reference books) authorizing their presence in areas that the government deemed “restricted” (i.e., generally reserved for the white population). He traveled throughout the country as part of the campaign, trying to build support for nonviolent means of protest against the discriminatory laws. In 1955 he was involved in drafting the Freedom Charter , a document calling for nonracial social democracy in South Africa.

Mandela’s antiapartheid activism made him a frequent target of the authorities. Starting in 1952, he was intermittently banned (severely restricted in travel, association, and speech). In December 1956 he was arrested with more than 100 other people on charges of treason that were designed to harass antiapartheid activists. Mandela went on trial that same year and eventually was acquitted in 1961. During the extended court proceedings, he divorced his first wife and married Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela ( Winnie Madikizela-Mandela ).

After the massacre of unarmed Black South Africans by police forces at Sharpeville in 1960 and the subsequent banning of the ANC, Mandela abandoned his nonviolent stance and began advocating acts of sabotage against the South African regime. He went underground (during which time he became known as the Black Pimpernel for his ability to evade capture) and was one of the founders of Umkhonto we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”), the military wing of the ANC. In 1962 he went to Algeria for training in guerrilla warfare and sabotage, returning to South Africa later that year. On August 5, shortly after his return, Mandela was arrested at a road block in Natal ; he was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison.

In October 1963 the imprisoned Mandela and several other men were tried for sabotage, treason, and violent conspiracy in the infamous Rivonia Trial, named after a fashionable suburb of Johannesburg where raiding police had discovered quantities of arms and equipment at the headquarters of the underground Umkhonto we Sizwe. Mandela’s speech from the dock, in which he admitted the truth of some of the charges made against him, was a classic defense of liberty and defiance of tyranny . (His speech garnered international attention and acclaim and was published later that year as I Am Prepared to Die .) On June 12, 1964, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, narrowly escaping the death penalty .

Robert Frost

(1874-1963)

Who Was Robert Frost?

Frost spent his first 40 years as an unknown. He exploded on the scene after returning from England at the beginning of World War I . He died of complications from prostate surgery on January 29, 1963.

Early Years

Frost was born on March 26, 1874, in San Francisco, California. He spent the first 11 years of his life there, until his journalist father, William Prescott Frost Jr., died of tuberculosis.

Following his father's passing, Frost moved with his mother and sister, Jeanie, to the town of Lawrence, Massachusetts. They moved in with his grandparents, and Frost attended Lawrence High School.

After high school, Frost attended Dartmouth College for several months, returning home to work a slew of unfulfilling jobs.

Beginning in 1897, Frost attended Harvard University but had to drop out after two years due to health concerns. He returned to Lawrence to join his wife.

In 1900, Frost moved with his wife and children to a farm in New Hampshire — property that Frost's grandfather had purchased for them—and they attempted to make a life on it for the next 12 years. Though it was a fruitful time for Frost's writing, it was a difficult period in his personal life and followed the deaths of two of his young children.

During that time, Frost and Elinor attempted several endeavors, including poultry farming, all of which were fairly unsuccessful.

Despite such challenges, it was during this time that Frost acclimated himself to rural life. In fact, he grew to depict it quite well, and began setting many of his poems in the countryside.

Frost met his future love and wife, Elinor White, when they were both attending Lawrence High School. She was his co-valedictorian when they graduated in 1892.

In 1894, Frost proposed to White, who was attending St. Lawrence University , but she turned him down because she first wanted to finish school. Frost then decided to leave on a trip to Virginia, and when he returned, he proposed again. By then, White had graduated from college, and she accepted. They married on December 19, 1895.

White died in 1938. Diagnosed with cancer in 1937 and having undergone surgery, she also had had a long history of heart trouble, to which she ultimately succumbed.

Frost and White had six children together. Their first child, Elliot, was born in 1896. Daughter Lesley was born in 1899.

Elliot died of cholera in 1900. After his death, Elinor gave birth to four more children: son Carol (1902), who would commit suicide in 1940; Irma (1903), who later developed mental illness; Marjorie (1905), who died in her late 20s after giving birth; and Elinor (1907), who died just weeks after she was born.

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Early Poetry

In 1894, Frost had his first poem, "My Butterfly: an Elegy," published in The Independent , a weekly literary journal based in New York City .

Two poems, "The Tuft of Flowers" and "The Trial by Existence," were published in 1906. He could not find any publishers who were willing to underwrite his other poems.

In 1912, Frost and Elinor decided to sell the farm in New Hampshire and move the family to England, where they hoped there would be more publishers willing to take a chance on new poets.

Within just a few months, Frost, now 38, found a publisher who would print his first book of poems, A Boy’s Will , followed by North of Boston a year later.

It was at this time that Frost met fellow poets Ezra Pound and Edward Thomas, two men who would affect his life in significant ways. Pound and Thomas were the first to review his work in a favorable light, as well as provide significant encouragement. Frost credited Thomas's long walks over the English landscape as the inspiration for one of his most famous poems, "The Road Not Taken."

Apparently, Thomas's indecision and regret regarding what paths to take inspired Frost's work. The time Frost spent in England was one of the most significant periods in his life, but it was short-lived. Shortly after World War I broke out in August 1914, Frost and Elinor were forced to return to America.

Public Recognition for Frost’s Poetry

When Frost arrived back in America, his reputation had preceded him, and he was well-received by the literary world. His new publisher, Henry Holt, who would remain with him for the rest of his life, had purchased all of the copies of North of Boston . In 1916, he published Frost's Mountain Interval , a collection of other works that he created while in England, including a tribute to Thomas.

Journals such as the Atlantic Monthly , who had turned Frost down when he submitted work earlier, now came calling. Frost famously sent the Atlantic the same poems that they had rejected before his stay in England.

In 1915, Frost and Elinor settled down on a farm that they purchased in Franconia, New Hampshire. There, Frost began a long career as a teacher at several colleges, reciting poetry to eager crowds and writing all the while.

He taught at Dartmouth and the University of Michigan at various times, but his most significant association was with Amherst College , where he taught steadily during the period from 1916 until his wife’s death in 1938. The main library is now named in his honor.

For a period of more than 40 years beginning in 1921, Frost also spent almost every summer and fall at Middlebury College , teaching English on its campus in Ripton, Vermont.

In the late 1950s, Frost, along with Ernest Hemingway and T. S. Eliot , championed the release of his old acquaintance Ezra Pound, who was being held in a federal mental hospital for treason due to his involvement with fascists in Italy during World War II . Pound was released in 1958, after the indictments were dropped.

Famous Poems

Some of Frost’s most well-known poems include:

• “The Road Not Taken”
• “Fire and Ice”
• “Mending Wall”
• “Home Burial”
• “The Death of the Hired Man”
• “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening”
• “Acquainted with the Night”
• “Nothing Gold Can Stay”

Pulitzer Prizes and Awards

During his lifetime, Frost received more than 40 honorary degrees.

In 1924, Frost was awarded his first of four Pulitzer Prizes, for his book New Hampshire . He would subsequently win Pulitzers for Collected Poems (1931), A Further Range (1937) and A Witness Tree (1943).

In 1960, Congress awarded Frost the Congressional Gold Medal.

President John F. Kennedy’s Inauguration

At the age of 86, Frost was honored when asked to write and recite a poem for President John F. Kennedy's 1961 inauguration. His sight now failing, he was not able to see the words in the sunlight and substituted the reading of one of his poems, "The Gift Outright," which he had committed to memory.

Soviet Union Tour

In 1962, Frost visited the Soviet Union on a goodwill tour. However, when he accidentally misrepresented a statement made by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev following their meeting, he unwittingly undid much of the good intended by his visit.

On January 29, 1963, Frost died from complications related to prostate surgery. He was survived by two of his daughters, Lesley and Irma. His ashes are interred in a family plot in Bennington, Vermont.

QUICK FACTS

• Name: Robert Lee Frost
• Birth Year: 1874
• Birth date: March 26, 1874
• Birth State: California
• Birth City: San Francisco
• Birth Country: United States
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Robert Frost was an American poet who depicted realistic New England life through language and situations familiar to the common man. He won four Pulitzer Prizes for his work and spoke at John F. Kennedy's 1961 inauguration.
• Fiction and Poetry
• Astrological Sign: Aries
• Harvard University
• Lawrence High School
• Dartmouth College
• Death Year: 1963
• Death date: January 29, 1963
• Death State: Massachusetts
• Death City: Boston
• Death Country: United States

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CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Robert Frost Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/robert-frost
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• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: December 1, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 2, 2014
• The ear does it. The ear is the only true writer and the only true reader.
• I would have written of me on my stone: I had a lover's quarrel with the world.

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• Nelson Mandela - Biographical

Nelson Mandela

Biographical.

Questions and answers on Nelson Mandela

N elson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1918. His father was Hendry Mphakanyiswa of the Tembu Tribe. Mandela himself was educated at University College of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand where he studied law. He joined the African National Congress in 1944 and was engaged in resistance against the ruling National Party’s apartheid policies after 1948. He went on trial for treason in 1956-1961 and was acquitted in 1961.

After the banning of the ANC in 1960, Nelson Mandela argued for the setting up of a military wing within the ANC. In June 1961, the ANC executive considered his proposal on the use of violent tactics and agreed that those members who wished to involve themselves in Mandela’s campaign would not be stopped from doing so by the ANC. This led to the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe. Mandela was arrested in 1962 and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment with hard labour. In 1963, when many fellow leaders of the ANC and the Umkhonto we Sizwe were arrested, Mandela was brought to stand trial with them for plotting to overthrow the government by violence. His statement from the dock received considerable international publicity. On June 12, 1964, eight of the accused, including Mandela, were sentenced to life imprisonment. From 1964 to 1982, he was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison, off Cape Town; thereafter, he was at Pollsmoor Prison, nearby on the mainland.

During his years in prison, Nelson Mandela’s reputation grew steadily. He was widely accepted as the most significant black leader in South Africa and became a potent symbol of resistance as the anti-apartheid movement gathered strength. He consistently refused to compromise his political position to obtain his freedom.

Nelson Mandela was released on February 11, 1990. After his release, he plunged himself wholeheartedly into his life’s work, striving to attain the goals he and others had set out almost four decades earlier. In 1991, at the first national conference of the ANC held inside South Africa after the organization had been banned in 1960, Mandela was elected President of the ANC while his lifelong friend and colleague, Oliver Tambo, became the organisation’s National Chairperson.

This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and later published in the book series Les Prix Nobel/ Nobel Lectures / The Nobel Prizes . The information is sometimes updated with an addendum submitted by the Laureate.

Watch a video clip of Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk receiving their Nobel Peace Prize medals and diplomas during the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony at the Oslo City Hall in Norway, 10 December 1993.

This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel . It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures . To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.

For more updated biographical information, see: Mandela, Nelson. Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela . Little, Brown and Co., Boston, 1994.

Nelson Mandela died on 5 December 2013.

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Nelson Mandela: His Life In His Words And The Words Of Others

Joe Richman

In April 1994, the world watched as millions of South Africans, most of them jubilant but many wary, cast their ballots in that nation's first multiracial election. Ten years later, NPR broadcast "Mandela: An Audio History," by producers Joe Richman and Sue Johnson of Radio Diaries. The radio documentary tells the story of Nobel Peace Prize-winner Nelson Mandela through the leader's own words, the voices those who fought with him, as well as those who fought against him. You can listen to a segment of the documentary by clicking play on the audio above, or you can listen to the full hour-long documentary, and read a timeline of his life, here .

Copyright © 2013 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

20 Things You Need to Know About Nelson Mandela

By The Nelson Mandela Foundation

Mandela with chris hani 2 (1990/1994) by Eric Miller The Nelson Mandela Foundation

#1: Who was Nelson Mandela? Known and loved around the world for his commitment to peace, negotiation and reconciliation, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was South Africa's first democratically elected president (1994-1999). Mandela was an anti-apartheid revolutionary and political leader, as well as a philanthropist with an abiding love for children. Mandela was born into the Xhosa royal family on 18 July 1918 and died on 5 December 2013.

Rural Scene (1930) by A.M. Duggan Cronin, McGregor museum Kimberley The Nelson Mandela Foundation

#2: Where was Nelson Mandela born? 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.

Mbuso Mandela (1996-01-01) Original Source: To download a photograph click here

#3: What does the name "Madiba" mean? Madiba is the name of the Thembu clan to which Mandela belongs. It gets its name from a 19th century chief. All the members of this clan can be called Madiba. Mandela was called Madiba as a sign of both respect and affection.

Nelson Mandela and Jerry Moloi sparring by Bob Gosani/ BAHA The Nelson Mandela Foundation

#4: Who gave him the name 'Nelson'? Mandela attended primary school in Qunu where his teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave him the name Nelson, in accordance with the custom of giving all schoolchildren “Christian” names.

First Democratic Elections (1994-04-27) Original Source: Paul Weinberg / South Photos

#5: How tall was Nelson Mandela? 1.84m

Winni and Mandela getting married (1958-06) by UWC, Robben Island , Mayibuye archives / Eli Weinberg The Nelson Mandela Foundation

#6: How many marriages did Nelson Mandela have and to whom? Mandela was married three times. He was first married to Evelyn Ntoko Mase in 1944. They separated in 1955 and divorced in 1958. They had two daughters and two sons. In June 1958 Mandela married Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela. They had two daughters, Zenani and Zindziswa. They divorced in 1996. On his 80th birthday in 1998 Nelson Mandela married Graca Machel, who brought two children and two step-children into the marriage.

Nelson Mandela made a dramatic entrance into the court wearing a Thembu royal costume. (1962-10-22) by Associated Press The Nelson Mandela Foundation

#7: On what day was Nelson Mandela sentenced to life imprisonment? On 12 June 1964.

8 Rivonia Trialists (1964) by Unknown Robben Island Museum

#8: Who were the other accused in the Rivonia Trial? On 9 October 1963 Mandela joined 10 others on trial for sabotage in what became known as the Rivonia Trial. The other accused were Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Ahmed Kathrada, Raymond Mhlaba, Denis Goldberg, Elias Motsoaledi, Rusty Bernstein, Bob Hepple, Andrew Mlangeni and James Kantor.

scan0003 The Nelson Mandela Foundation

#9: What did Nelson Mandela say in his defence speech on 20 April 1964? “I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

Nelson Mandela with Winnie Mandela as he is released from the Victor Vester Prison (1990-11-02) by Graeme Williams Original Source: Graeme Williams / South Photos

#10: On what day was Nelson Mandela released from prison? 11 February 1990. He served 27 years in prison.

Migrants crossing the road, Johannesburg (1950) by Museum Africa The Nelson Mandela Foundation

#11: What was apartheid? Apartheid was the official policy of the National Party, which became the governing party of South Africa in 1948. Apartheid, which means "separateness", was the practice of official racial segregation in every aspect of life. Under apartheid, everyone in South Africa had to be classified according to a particular racial group. This classification determined where someone could be born, where they could live, where they could go to school, where they could work, where they could be treated if they were sick and where they could be buried if they died. Only white people could vote and they had the best opportunities and the most money was spent on their facilities. Apartheid made others live in poverty. Black South Africans' lives were strictly controlled. Many thousands of people died in the struggle to end apartheid.

Nelson Mandela in Algeria (1962) by UWC , Robben Island, Mayibuye archives The Nelson Mandela Foundation

#12: What was Nelson Mandela’s vision during the apartheid era? Mandela's vision during the apartheid era was for the eradication of racism and for the establishment of a constitutional democracy. He envisioned a South Africa in which all its citizens had equal rights and where every adult would have the right to vote for the government of his or her choice.

Gilbert Nzimeni Collection Healdtown photograph (front) The Nelson Mandela Foundation

#13: What beliefs and actions influenced Nelson Mandela as a leader? Mandela was driven by an unshakeable belief in the equality of all people and his determination to overthrow the system of apartheid in South Africa. He helped to organise and to lead many peaceful campaigns, but after violent disruptions by the state and its outlawing of the opposition organisations, it became clear to him and his comrades that peaceful protest was impossible. In 1961 they decided to turn to an armed struggle and established Umkhonto weSizwe (Spear of the Nation) – also known as MK – as an army for freedom fighters.

Nelson Mandela recollecting with Verne Harris (2004-08-13) by photographer Matthew Willman on behalf of the Nelson Mandela Foundation The Nelson Mandela Foundation

#14: Which organisations did Nelson Mandela establish? Mandela helped to found the African National Congress Youth League in 1944. He also helped in 1961 to establish Umkhonto weSizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress and was its first Commander-in-Chief. When he was President of South Africa he started the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and donated one-third of his salary every month to the organisation. In 1999 after he stepped down as President he started the Nelson Mandela Foundation as a post-presidential office and charity to assist in various causes. In 2003 he founded the Mandela Rhodes Foundation to assist postgraduate students from throughout Africa to further their studies. He also established the Mandela Institute for Education and Rural Development

City Hall Cape Town (1990-02-11) by © Chris Ledochowski The Nelson Mandela Foundation

#15: How many people did Nelson Mandela free? The liberation movements freed all the people of South Africa.

#16: When did Nelson Mandela become President? On 10 May 1994 Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa’s first democratically elected President.

Retire cover The Nelson Mandela Foundation

#17: When did Nelson Mandela step down as President? Mandela stepped down in 1999 after one term as President. He dedicated his post-1999 retirement to a vast range of charitable work including the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, The Nelson Mandela Foundation and The Mandela Rhodes Foundation.

Nelson Mandela reading letter from Maharaj family (2004-08-13) by photographer Matthew Willman on behalf of the Nelson Mandela Foundation The Nelson Mandela Foundation

#18: How many books did Nelson Mandela author? Three. His autobiography Long Walk to Freedom published in 1994; Conversations with Myself published in 2010; and Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations published in 2011

Great-Grandson Ziyanda Manaway (Mandela) 02 (2009-09-10/2009-09-10) The Nelson Mandela Foundation

#19: How old was Nelson Mandela when he died? Mandela died at the age of 95 at his home in Johannesburg on 5 December 2013.

Thank you for Mandela Day (2009-07-17) The Nelson Mandela Foundation

#20: What is Mandela Day? Nelson Mandela International Day was launched in recognition of his birthday on 18 July 2009 via unanimous decision of the UN General Assembly. It was inspired by a call Mandela made a year earlier, for the next generation to take on the burden of leadership in addressing the world’s social injustices when he said that “it is in your hands now”. It is more than a celebration of Madiba’s life and legacy; it is a global movement to honour his life’s work and to change the world for the better.

Discover more about Nelson Mandela here

Nelson Mandela's Fight to Empower the Next Generation

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