100 Fun Facts About Nelson Mandela

How many years did Mandela spend in prison?

Mandela spent 27 years in prison, from his arrest in August 1962 until 1990, first on Robben Island and then in two mainland prisons.

What does Mandela's Xhosa forename, Rolihlahla, colloquially mean?

Rolihlahla literally means 'pulling the branch of a tree' in Xhosa, and its colloquial sense is 'troublemaker', a gloss Mandela himself gave in Long Walk to Freedom.

By what clan name is Mandela affectionately known in South Africa?

Madiba is Mandela's clan name, taken from an 18th-century chief who was his ancestor; South Africans used it as an affectionate and respectful form of address.

In which village was Mandela born on 18 July 1918?

Mandela was born in Mvezo, a small village on the Mbashe River in the Transkei, where his father Gadla was the local chief.

To which royal family did Mandela belong?

Mandela belonged to the Thembu royal family through its Ixhiba or 'Left-Hand House', a branch of hereditary royal councillors that was ineligible for the throne.

How many wives did Mandela's father, Chief Gadla, have?

Gadla had four wives; Mandela's mother Nosekeni Fanny was the third, and between them the four wives bore thirteen children, four sons and nine daughters.

After his father's death, Mandela was entrusted to the guardianship of which regent?

Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo, the acting regent, became Mandela's guardian after his father's death and raised him at the Great Place at Mqhekezweni alongside his own children.

Which two sports did Mandela pursue in his spare time at Healdtown college?

At Healdtown Mandela took up long-distance running and boxing; boxing stayed a lifelong interest, and he was made a prefect in his second year there.

At which elite black university did Mandela begin a BA in 1939 and befriend a future comrade of decades?

Mandela enrolled at the University of Fort Hare in 1939 but was sent home in 1940 after a dispute over the Students' Representative Council, and finished his BA by correspondence instead.

Why did Mandela and his cousin Justice flee to Johannesburg in 1941?

Mandela and his cousin Justice fled to Johannesburg in 1941 because the regent had arranged marriages for them; Mandela's first job there was night watchman at Crown Mines.

Which ANC activist and realtor got Mandela his first job as an articled clerk at a Johannesburg law firm?

Walter Sisulu, an ANC activist who ran an estate agency, introduced Mandela to Lazar Sidelsky, whose firm Witkin, Sidelsky and Eidelman took him on as an articled clerk.

On what day in 1944 was the ANC Youth League founded, with Mandela on its executive?

The ANC Youth League was founded on Easter Sunday 1944 at the Bantu Men's Social Centre in Johannesburg; Anton Lembede was its first president and Mandela sat on the executive.

How many times did Mandela fail his final year of law at Wits before being denied a degree?

Mandela failed his final year at Wits three times and was denied the degree in December 1949; he finally earned an LLB through the University of South Africa in 1989, months before his release.

How large was the Durban crowd Mandela addressed on 22 June 1952 to launch the Defiance Campaign?

Mandela addressed a crowd of about 10,000 in Durban on 22 June 1952 to launch the Defiance Campaign, during which ANC membership rose from 20,000 to 100,000.

Mandela's 1953 speech 'No Easy Walk to Freedom' took its title from a quote by whom?

The title quoted Jawaharlal Nehru's line that there is 'no easy walk to freedom anywhere'; Mandela's 1953 presidential address to the Transvaal ANC was read out for him because he was banned.

With whom did Mandela open South Africa's only African-run law firm in August 1953?

Mandela and Tambo dealt with many police brutality cases until the Group Areas Act forced them out of their office.

The 1955 Freedom Charter, drafted by Rusty Bernstein, was adopted at a conference in which township?

The Congress of the People adopted the Freedom Charter at Kliptown, outside Johannesburg, on 25-26 June 1955 before police broke up the gathering; it called for a non-racial state.

Whom did Mandela marry in Bizana in June 1958?

Winnie Madikizela, a social worker, married Mandela in Bizana on 14 June 1958; she later endured imprisonment and banishment, and the couple separated in 1992.

How did the Treason Trial, which began in 1956, end for Mandela in March 1961?

All the accused, Mandela included, were found not guilty on 29 March 1961; the judges ruled the prosecution had not proved the ANC planned violent revolution or was communist.

How many protesters were killed by police at Sharpeville in 1960?

Police killed 69 protesters at Sharpeville on 21 March 1960; Mandela publicly burned his pass in solidarity, and the government banned the ANC and PAC.

What nickname did the press give Mandela while he travelled incognito in 1961?

The press dubbed him 'the Black Pimpernel' for evading police while travelling in disguise, a nod to Baroness Orczy's 1905 novel The Scarlet Pimpernel.

What does Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed group Mandela co-founded in 1961, mean?

Umkhonto we Sizwe, abbreviated MK, means 'Spear of the Nation'; it announced its existence with 57 bombings on 16 December 1961.

Where in Rivonia did Mandela hide with MK comrades in 1961?

Mandela lived at Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia from October 1961, posing as a farmhand; the police raid there on 11 July 1963 seized the documents that led to the Rivonia Trial.

Which emperor did Mandela meet in Addis Ababa in 1962 while touring Africa in secret?

Mandela met Emperor Haile Selassie in Addis Ababa in February 1962 while addressing a pan-African conference; he later began guerrilla training in Ethiopia before being recalled home.

According to a former US diplomat, which agency tipped off South African police before Mandela's 1962 arrest?

Donald Rickard, a former US vice-consul in Durban, said in 2016 that the CIA had tipped off the police because it feared Mandela's communist links; he was arrested near Howick on 5 August 1962.

What did Mandela wear to disrupt his 1962 hearing in Pretoria?

Mandela entered the Pretoria court in a traditional kaross, a leopard-skin cloak, to stress that he was a black African in a white man's court; he was sentenced to five years.

How long was Mandela's 'I Am Prepared to Die' speech at the Rivonia Trial?

Mandela spoke for about three hours from the dock on 20 April 1964; the speech, inspired by Castro's 'History Will Absolve Me', had been polished by Nadine Gordimer and Anthony Sampson.

What punishment did the prosecution seek at the Rivonia Trial before the judge imposed life?

The prosecution pressed for the death sentence, the maximum under the Sabotage Act, but Judge Quartus de Wet instead sentenced Mandela and seven co-accused to life imprisonment on 12 June 1964.

How big was Mandela's cell on Robben Island?

Mandela's Robben Island cell measured 8 by 7 feet, with a straw mat on the floor to sleep on and a bucket for a toilet.

As a Class D prisoner, how often was Mandela initially allowed a visit and a letter?

Classified in the lowest category, Class D, Mandela was allowed a visit and a letter only once every six months, and every letter was heavily censored by the authorities.

Which liberal Progressive Party MP championed Mandela's cause after visiting him on Robben Island?

Helen Suzman, for years the Progressive Party's only MP, visited Mandela on Robben Island in 1967 and afterwards pressed his case and prison conditions in Parliament.

What happened when prison authorities discovered pages of the autobiography Mandela began in 1975?

When buried copies were found in the prison garden, Mandela was punished: his LLB study privileges were revoked for four years; a smuggled copy later formed the basis of Long Walk to Freedom.

Which journalist coined the slogan 'Free Mandela!' in March 1980?

Percy Qoboza, editor of the Sunday Post, launched the 'Free Mandela!' campaign in March 1980; it grew into an international movement and the UN Security Council called for his release.

To which Cape Town prison was Mandela transferred in April 1982?

Mandela was moved to Pollsmoor Prison in Tokai, Cape Town, in April 1982 with several Rivonia comrades; there he got on with the commanding officer and tended a rooftop garden.

On what condition did P. W. Botha offer Mandela release in February 1985?

Botha offered release on condition that he unconditionally reject violence as a political weapon; Mandela refused in a statement read at a Soweto rally, saying only free men can negotiate.

Which Minister of Justice held secret talks with Mandela from 1987?

Kobie Coetsee, Minister of Justice, met Mandela secretly about a dozen times between 1987 and 1990; the contacts led to formal talks with a government team under intelligence chief Niel Barnard in 1988.

Who wrote 'Free Nelson Mandela', the 1984 protest hit performed at the 1988 Wembley tribute?

Jerry Dammers of The Special AKA wrote 'Free Nelson Mandela', a 1984 UK top-ten hit that became an anti-apartheid anthem and was performed at the 1988 Wembley birthday tribute.

On what date did Mandela walk out of Victor Verster Prison a free man?

Mandela walked out of Victor Verster Prison near Paarl on 11 February 1990, nine days after the government's 2 February announcement, and addressed a huge crowd from the balcony of Cape Town's City Hall.

Which state president legalised the ANC and announced Mandela's release?

F. W. de Klerk, state president since 1989, unbanned the ANC on 2 February 1990 and announced Mandela's imminent release; the two men shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize.

Per testimony at Wouter Basson's trial, with what poison did Project Coast plan to dose Mandela before his release?

Witnesses at Wouter Basson's trial said the apartheid-era Project Coast considered dosing Mandela with thallium, a toxic heavy metal, so that his mental faculties would decline before his release.

What percentage of the vote did the ANC win in the April 1994 election?

The ANC took 62.65 per cent, rounded to 63%, just short of the two-thirds majority needed to rewrite the constitution alone; Mandela cast his vote at Ohlange High School in Durban.

To what did Mandela urge the voting age be lowered before the 1994 election, a proposal the ANC rejected?

Mandela proposed lowering the voting age to 14 ahead of the 1994 election; the ANC rejected the idea, which drew widespread ridicule in the press.

How many people were estimated to have watched Mandela's inauguration on 10 May 1994?

Television audiences estimated at a billion watched Mandela's inauguration at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 10 May 1994, attended by some 4,000 guests including many heads of state.

To which Springbok captain did Mandela present the 1995 Rugby World Cup, wearing a Springbok shirt?

Mandela handed the Webb Ellis Cup to Springbok captain Francois Pienaar at Ellis Park on 24 June 1995, wearing a green Springbok jersey with Pienaar's number 6 on the back.

Whom did Mandela appoint to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission?

Archbishop Desmond Tutu chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 1996; it could grant amnesty to perpetrators who fully disclosed their crimes and delivered its report in October 1998.

What did Mandela rename Westbrooke manor, the Cape Town residence he settled into as president?

Mandela renamed Westbrooke 'Genadendal', meaning 'Valley of Mercy', after the historic Moravian mission village of that name; he let his predecessor stay on at Groote Schuur next door.

What fraction of his presidential salary did Mandela donate to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund?

Mandela gave a third of his R552,000 annual salary to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, which he founded in 1995 to help young people.

Which American journalist's interviews helped shape Mandela's 1994 autobiography Long Walk to Freedom?

Time journalist Richard Stengel spent many hours interviewing Mandela and helped him turn his 1970s prison manuscript into Long Walk to Freedom, published in 1994.

Whom did Mandela marry on his 80th birthday in July 1998?

Graça Machel, widow of Mozambican president Samora Machel and 27 years his junior, married Mandela at his Houghton home on 18 July 1998, his 80th birthday.

Mandela brokered a deal for the two Libyan Lockerbie suspects to be tried where?

Mandela's mediation led to the suspects being tried at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands, under Scots law; the trial opened in 2000 and convicted only Megrahi, whom Mandela visited in Barlinnie prison in 2002.

Whom did Mandela hope would succeed him as ANC president in 1997, though the party chose Thabo Mbeki?

He thought Mbeki too inflexible; Ramaphosa had led the ANC's CODESA delegation.

How many minutes does the UN's Mandela Day ask people to give to helping others, and why?

Mandela Day asks for 67 minutes of service: 67, for his 67 years in the movement, counted from 1942; the UN General Assembly proclaimed 18 July Mandela Day in November 2009.

Until what year did Mandela remain on the US terrorism watchlist?

Mandela and other ANC leaders stayed on the US terrorism watch list until 2008, when George W. Bush signed a law removing them, a legacy of the Reagan-era designation of the ANC as terrorist.

How old was Mandela when he died at his Houghton home on 5 December 2013?

Mandela died aged 95 at his Houghton home in Johannesburg on 5 December 2013 after a long respiratory illness; he had been born on 18 July 1918.

Who gave Mandela the English forename 'Nelson'?

His teacher Miss Mdingane gave him the name Nelson on his first day at the local Methodist primary school, which he started at about age seven, as was customary for African pupils.

Who was Mandela's first wife, a trainee nurse he met at Walter Sisulu's house?

They married in October 1944 and had four children; the marriage broke down in the mid-1950s and Evelyn left, taking the children to her brother's home.

At which Johannesburg venue was Mandela's memorial service held on 10 December 2013?

The memorial service on 10 December 2013 was held at FNB Stadium in Soweto, also known as Soccer City, with dozens of heads of state attending under heavy rain.

Mandela was the first living person to be made an honorary citizen of which country?

Canada made Mandela an honorary citizen in 2001, the first living person so honoured; he had also been made an honorary Companion of the Order of Canada in 1998.

Which country's peace award did Mandela initially refuse in 1992, accepting it only in 1999?

He cited human rights violations in Turkey at the time when he first declined the Atatürk Peace Award.

What working title did Mandela give his unfinished sequel to Long Walk to Freedom?

Mandela's draft sequel, The Presidential Years, was left unfinished when he returned to public life after retiring in June 1999; Mandla Langa completed it as Dare Not Linger in 2017.

What prisoner number, now used as a tribute, was Mandela given on Robben Island in 1964?

Mandela's number, 46664, marked him as the 466th prisoner to arrive on Robben Island in 1964; it later named his global health campaign and a song co-written by Bono and Joe Strummer.

The 'Mandela effect' is named after a widespread false memory that Mandela did what?

Paranormal writer Fiona Broome coined the term after finding many people shared her false memory that Mandela had died in prison in the 1980s; one suggested origin is confusion with Steve Biko, who died in custody in 1977.

Who played Mandela in the 2013 film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom?

Idris Elba played Mandela in the 2013 film; news of Mandela's death reached its London royal premiere that night, and producer Anant Singh broke it to the audience during the closing credits.

Who directed Invictus, the 2009 film about Mandela and the 1995 Rugby World Cup?

Clint Eastwood directed Invictus, adapting John Carlin's book Playing the Enemy; the title is the William Ernest Henley poem Mandela drew strength from in prison.

Which actor portrayed Mandela in Invictus?

Morgan Freeman played Mandela and earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination; Mandela had once said Freeman was the actor he would choose to portray him.

What scandal overshadowed the speeches at Mandela's December 2013 memorial service?

A fake sign-language interpreter, Thamsanqa Jantjie, stood beside world leaders making meaningless gestures; he later blamed a schizophrenic episode, and deaf groups condemned the mockery of South African Sign Language.

The UN's 2015 'Mandela Rules' set minimum standards for the treatment of whom?

The Mandela Rules are the UN's revised Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, adopted in 2015; their 122 rules update standards first agreed in 1955.

At which event did Mandela make his final public appearance?

Mandela's last public appearance was at the 2010 World Cup closing ceremony on 11 July 2010, when he was driven around the pitch in a golf cart; he had lobbied for South Africa's bid to host.

In 2005, Mandela publicly announced that which disease had killed his son Makgatho?

Mandela announced in January 2005 that his son Makgatho had died of AIDS, saying openness was the only way to fight the stigma; he had admitted neglecting the epidemic as president.

Robben Island takes its name from an archaic Dutch word for which animal?

Robben Island comes from the Dutch 'robben', meaning seals, which once crowded its shores; before becoming a prison it served as a leper colony and a whaling station.

Which group of world leaders did Mandela unveil in a speech on his 89th birthday?

Mandela launched The Elders in Johannesburg on 18 July 2007, his 89th birthday: a group of veteran leaders working independently for peace and human rights, an idea first floated by Richard Branson and Peter Gabriel.

Whose handshake with Barack Obama at Mandela's memorial drew criticism in Washington?

Obama shook hands with Cuba's Raúl Castro on the podium, the first such gesture between sitting US and Cuban leaders since 2000; John McCain likened it to Chamberlain shaking hands with Hitler.

Which language did Mandela study in prison hoping to win over his warders?

Mandela learned Afrikaans in prison, believing that speaking the warders' language would help win them over; he also encouraged inmates to teach one another in the so-called University of Robben Island.

Work in which part of Robben Island permanently damaged Mandela's eyesight?

Years of labour in the lime quarry, where the glare off the white rock went unshielded because sunglasses were refused, permanently damaged Mandela's eyesight; inmates were sent there from January 1965.

Where was Mandela's state funeral held on 15 December 2013?

Mandela was buried at his family home in Qunu, the Eastern Cape village where he grew up, after a state funeral in a giant marquee attended by about 4,500 people; broadcasting stopped before the burial at the family's request.

In which year did South African banknotes bearing Mandela's face first enter circulation?

The Mandela banknote series entered circulation on 6 November 2012, with his face on the front of every denomination; a 2018 centenary series replaced the Big Five on the reverse with scenes from his life.

What phrase did the 85-year-old Mandela use in 2004 when withdrawing from public life?

Announcing in June 2004 that he was 'retiring from retirement', the 85-year-old Mandela joked 'Don't call me, I will call you'; his foundation then declined most invitations on his behalf.

Which daughter read out Mandela's 1985 rejection of a conditional release offer?

Zindzi Mandela, then 24, read her father's defiant reply at a Soweto rally on 10 February 1985 because her mother was banished to Brandfort; Zindzi later served as South Africa's ambassador to Denmark.

Who delivered the first Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in 2003?

Bill Clinton gave the first Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Johannesburg on 19 July 2003; later lecturers included Thomas Piketty in 2015 and Barack Obama in the 2018 centenary year.

Whom did Mandela mockingly call the 'American foreign minister' over the 2003 Iraq war?

Mandela derided Tony Blair as 'the foreign minister of the United States' in January 2003 for backing the invasion, and accused George W. Bush of wanting only Iraqi oil; he and Bush later reconciled.

Which domestic habit did Mandela reportedly keep up even as president?

Making his own bed every morning was a routine from his prison years that Mandela kept even in the presidential residence and in hotels on state visits, to the surprise of his hosts.

Which neighbouring leader did Mandela publicly urge to step down in 2007?

Private appeals had failed first. A decade later Mugabe attacked Mandela's legacy and the Mandela Foundation told him to stick to facts.

Which state president surprised Mandela with an invitation to tea in July 1989?

P. W. Botha received Mandela for tea at Tuynhuys in Cape Town on 5 July 1989, a cordial meeting that came less than six weeks before Botha resigned the presidency in August 1989.

For which groups did Mandela's government introduce free healthcare in 1994?

From 1994 children under six and pregnant women received free healthcare at public facilities; the scheme was widened in 1996 to everyone using primary-level public clinics.

Under what alias did Mandela pose as a gardener and cook at the MK hideout in Rivonia?

Mandela lived at the Rivonia hideout as 'David Motsamayi', the supposed houseboy and gardener; the farm stayed undiscovered until the police raid of July 1963, eleven months after his arrest.

Who was the chief prosecutor at the Rivonia Trial?

Percy Yutar, deputy attorney-general of the Transvaal, led the prosecution; in 1995 President Mandela invited him to lunch as a gesture of reconciliation.

Which words did Mandela add to his Rivonia speech's last line to placate his lawyers?

At his lawyers' urging Mandela inserted 'if needs be' before 'it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die', softening a line they feared would goad the judge into the harshest sentence.

Who was the last surviving Rivonia Trial defendant, dying in July 2020?

Andrew Mlangeni, Accused No. 10 at the trial, died on 21 July 2020, a few months after Denis Goldberg's death that April, leaving no surviving Rivonia defendants.

Which two Johannesburg districts does the Nelson Mandela Bridge link?

The cable-stayed Nelson Mandela Bridge, opened by Mandela himself in July 2003, links Braamfontein and Newtown across 42 railway lines of the Johannesburg rail yards.

Whose batik attire reportedly inspired Mandela's request for what became the Madiba shirt?

Mandela reportedly took a liking to the batik shirts worn by Indonesia's President Suharto; Cape Town designer Desré Buirski then sent him one via a bodyguard in May 1994, and his signature loose patterned shirts were born.

A nine-metre bronze Mandela was unveiled in Pretoria on which public holiday in 2013?

The statue was unveiled at the Union Buildings on 16 December 2013, the Day of Reconciliation and the day after Mandela's funeral; it took the spot of a J. B. M. Hertzog statue, moved elsewhere in the grounds.

Which South African trumpeter recorded 'Bring Him Back Home (Nelson Mandela)'?

Hugh Masekela, the exiled trumpeter, wrote 'Bring Him Back Home' after a 1985 birthday note from Mandela was smuggled out of prison to him; released in 1987, it became an anti-apartheid anthem.

Which Hollywood actor opened the London concert for Mandela's 90th birthday in 2008?

Will Smith compered the 90th-birthday concert in London's Hyde Park on 27 June, opening the show alongside his wife Jada Pinkett Smith; Mandela himself appeared on stage to address the crowd.

What name was Mandela given after undergoing the ulwaluko initiation ritual at 16?

After the ulwaluko rite at Tyhalarha, performed alongside his cousin Justice, Mandela received the name Dalibunga, meaning 'founder of the Bunga', the Transkei's traditional council.

On what obsolete audio format were nearly 250 hours of the Rivonia Trial recorded?

The trial was captured on Dictabelts, thin plastic belts cut by a Dictaphone machine; French engineer Henri Chamoux digitised them with his Archeophone, and the digitised recordings were returned to South Africa's National Archives.

Mandela's 2005 'Arctic' benefit concert was staged in which Norwegian city?

Mandela's Arctic benefit concert took place in Tromsø, well north of the Arctic Circle, on 11 June 2005, with Robert Plant, Peter Gabriel and Annie Lennox among the performers.

What did sculptors secretly hide in the right ear of Mandela's Union Buildings statue?

The artists said it stood in for a signature and nodded to how quickly the job was done: 'haas' means both rabbit and quickly in Afrikaans. It was removed after an outcry.

Which leader gave Mandela £5,000 for weapons during his secret 1962 tour of Africa?

Tunisia's President Habib Bourguiba gave Mandela £5,000 for weapons when he passed through Tunis in 1962 on his secret tour seeking support for MK's armed struggle.

Why did Rivonia co-accused Denis Goldberg serve his sentence apart from the other men?

As the only white among those convicted, Goldberg was held apart because Pretoria Central had the only security wing for white political prisoners; on hearing the sentence was life, he told his mother 'Life is wonderful'.

A concert marking the first Mandela Day in July 2009 was held at which New York venue?

The first Mandela Day concert filled Radio City Music Hall on 18 July 2009, his 91st birthday, with Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin among the performers; the UN adopted the day that November.