Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader and the first Black President of South Africa, and a global icon of justice and reconciliation. Imprisoned for 27 years for his struggle against the apartheid regime, he emerged in 1990 to help lead his country's transition from institutionalised racism to multiracial democracy, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, and was elected president in South Africa's first fully democratic elections in 1994.

His memoir Long Walk to Freedom and his many aphorisms on leadership made him one of the most quoted figures of the modern world. Rather than seek revenge, Mandela championed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and devoted his presidency to healing a divided nation, later applying his moral authority to the fight against poverty and HIV/AIDS. Known to his people as Madiba, he died in 2013 mourned across the planet — a leader whose life transformed a nation and inspired freedom movements everywhere.