Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 in the village of Mvezo in Umtata, then a part of South Africa's Cape Province. Given the forename Rolihlahla, a Xhosa term colloquially meaning "troublemaker", in later years he became known by his clan name, Madiba. His patrilineal great-grandfather, Ngubengcuka, was ruler of the Thembu people in the Transkeian Territories of South Africa's modern Eastern Cape province. One of this king's sons, named Mandela, became Nelson's grandfather and the source of his surname. Because Mandela was only the king's child by a wife of the Ixhiba clan, a so-called "Left-Hand House", the descendants of his cadet branch of the royal family were morganatic, ineligible to inherit the throne but recognised as hereditary royal councillors. His father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, was a local chief and councillor to the monarch; he had been appointed to the position in 1915, after his predecessor was accused of corruption by a governing white magistrate. In 1926 Gadla was also sacked for corruption, but Nelson was told that he had lost his job for standing up to the magistrate's unreasonable demands. A devotee of the god Qamata, Gadla was a polygamist, having four wives, four sons and nine daughters, who lived in different villages. Nelson's mother was Gadla's third wife, Nosekeni Fanny, who was daughter of Nkedama of the Right Hand House and a member of the amaMpemvu clan of Xhosa.

Intending to gain skills needed to become a privy councillor for the Thembu royal house, Mandela began his secondary education at Clarkebury Methodist High School Engcobo, a Western-style institution that was the largest school for black Africans in Thembuland. Made to socialise with other students on an equal basis, he claimed that he lost his "stuck up" attitude, becoming best friends with a girl for the first time; he began playing sports and developed his lifelong love of gardening.[25] Completing his Junior Certificate in two years, in 1937 he moved to Healdtown, the Methodist college in Fort Beaufort attended by most Thembu royalty, including Justice. The headmaster emphasised the superiority of English culture and government, but Mandela became increasingly interested in native African culture, making his first non-Xhosa friend, a Sotho language-speaker, and coming under the influence of one of his favourite teachers, a Xhosa who broke taboo by marrying a Sotho. Spending much of his spare time long-distance running and boxing, in his second year Mandela became a prefect.

Returning to Mqhekezweni in December 1940, Mandela found that Jongintaba had arranged marriages for him and Justice; dismayed, they fled to Johannesburg via Queenstown, arriving in April 1941.[39] Mandela found work as a night watchman at Crown Mines, his "first sight of South African capitalism in action", but was fired when the induna (headman) discovered that he was a runaway.[40] Staying with a cousin in George Goch Township, Mandela was introduced to the realtor and ANC activist Walter Sisulu, who secured him a job as an articled clerk at law firm Witkin, Sidelsky and Eidelman. The company was run by a liberal Jew, Lazar Sidelsky, who was sympathetic to the ANC's cause.[41] At the firm, Mandela befriended Gaur Radebe, a Xhosa member of the ANC and Communist Party, as well as Nat Bregman, a Jewish communist who became his first white friend.[42] Attending communist talks and parties, Mandela was impressed that Europeans, Africans, Indians and Coloureds were mixing as equals. He stated later that he did not join the Party because its atheism conflicted with his Christian faith, and because he saw the South African struggle as being racially based rather than class warfare.[43] Continuing his higher education, Mandela signed up to a University of South Africa correspondence course, working on his bachelor's degree at night.[44] Earning a small wage, Mandela rented a room in the house of the Xhoma family in the Alexandra township; despite being rife with poverty, crime and pollution, Alexandra always remained a special place for him.[45] Although embarrassed by his poverty, he briefly courted a Swazi woman before unsuccessfully courting his landlord's daughter.[46] In order to save money and be closer to downtown Johannesburg, Mandela moved into the compound of the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association, living among miners of various tribes; as the compound was visited by various chiefs, he once met the Queen Regent of Basutoland.[47] In late 1941, Jongintaba visited, forgiving Mandela for running away. On returning to Thembuland, the regent died in winter 1942; Mandela and Justice arrived a day late for the funeral.[48] After passing his BA exams in early 1943, Mandela returned to Johannesburg to follow a political path as a lawyer rather than become a privy councillor in Thembuland.[49] He later stated that he experienced no epiphany, but that he "simply found myself doing so, and could not do otherwise."[50]

Mandela began studying law at the University of Witwatersrand, where he was the only black African student in the faculty. Although facing racism from some, he befriended liberal and communist European, Jewish, and Indian students, among them Joe Slovo and Ruth First. Becoming increasingly politicised, in August 1943 Mandela marched in support of a successful bus boycott to reverse fare rises.[52] Joining the ANC, he was increasingly influenced by Sisulu, spending much time with other activists at Sisulu's Orlando house, including old friend Oliver Tambo.[53] In 1943, Mandela met Anton Lembede, an ANC member affiliated with the Africanist wing of African nationalism, which was virulently opposed to a racially united front against colonialism and imperialism or to an alliance with the communists.[54] Despite his friendships with non-blacks and communists, Mandela embraced Lembede's views, believing that black Africans should be entirely independent in their struggle for political self-determination. Deciding on the need for a youth wing to mass mobilise Africans in opposition to their subjugation, Mandela was among a delegation that approached ANC President Alfred Bitini Xuma on the subject at his home in Sophiatown; the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) was founded on Easter Sunday 1944 in the Bantu Men's Social Centre in Eloff Street, with Lembede as President and Mandela as a member of its executive committee

Mandela took Xuma's place on the ANC national executive in March 1950,[70] and that same year was elected national president of the ANCYL. In March, the Defend Free Speech Convention was held in Johannesburg, bringing together African, Indian and communist activists to call an anti-apartheid May Day general strike. Mandela opposed the strike because it was multi-racial and not ANC-led, but a majority of black workers took part, resulting in increased police repression and the introduction of the Suppression of Communism Act, 1950, affecting the actions of all protest groups. At the ANC national conference of December 1951, he continued arguing against a racially united front, but was outvoted.

Mandela came to the opinion that the ANC "had no alternative to armed and violent resistance" after taking part in the unsuccessful protest to prevent the forced relocation of all black people from the Sophiatown suburb of Johannesburg in February 1955.[91] He advised Sisulu to request weaponry from the People's Republic of China, but though supporting the anti-apartheid struggle, China's government believed the movement insufficiently prepared for guerilla warfare.[92] With the involvement of the South African Indian Congress, the Coloured People's Congress, the South African Congress of Trade Unions and the Congress of Democrats, the ANC planned a Congress of the People, calling on all South Africans to send in proposals for a post-apartheid era. Based on the responses, a Freedom Charter was drafted by Rusty Bernstein, calling for the creation of a democratic, non-racialist state with the nationalisation of major industry. When the charter was adopted at a June 1955 conference in Kliptown attended by 3000 delegates, police cracked down on the event, but it remained a key part of Mandela's ideology.

Disguised as a chauffeur, Mandela travelled the country incognito, organising the ANC's new cell structure and a mass stay-at-home strike for 29 May. Referred to as the "Black Pimpernel" in the press – a reference to Emma Orczy's 1905 novel The Scarlet Pimpernel – the police put out a warrant for his arrest.[108] Mandela held secret meetings with reporters, and after the government failed to prevent the strike, he warned them that many anti-apartheid activists would soon resort to violence through groups like the PAC's Poqo.[109] He believed that the ANC should form an armed group to channel some of this violence, convincing both ANC leader Albert Luthuli – who was morally opposed to violence – and allied activist groups of its necessity.

On 5 August 1962, police captured Mandela along with fellow activist Cecil Williams near Howick.[127] A large number of groups have been accused of having tipped off the police about Mandela's whereabouts, including Mandela's host in Durban G. R. Naidoo, white members of the South African Communist Party, and the CIA,[128][129] but Mandela considered none of these connections to be credible and instead attributes his arrest to his own carelessness in concealing his movements.[130] Of the CIA link in particular, Mandela's official biographer Anthony Sampson believes that "the claim cannot be substantiated."[131] Jailed in Johannesburg's Marshall Square prison, he was charged with inciting workers' strikes and leaving the country without permission. Representing himself with Slovo as legal advisor, Mandela intended to use the trial to showcase "the ANC's moral opposition to racism" while supporters demonstrated outside the court.[132] Moved to Pretoria, where Winnie could visit him, in his cell he began correspondence studies for a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of London.[133] His hearing began on 15 October, but he disrupted proceedings by wearing a traditional kaross, refusing to call any witnesses, and turning his plea of mitigation into a political speech. Found guilty, he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment; as he left the courtroom, supporters sang Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika

Mandela and his co-accused were transferred from Pretoria to the prison on Robben Island, remaining there for the next 18 years.[141] Isolated from non-political prisoners in Section B, Mandela was imprisoned in a damp concrete cell measuring 8 feet (2.4 m) by 7 feet (2.1 m), with a straw mat on which to sleep.[142] Verbally and physically harassed by several white prison wardens, the Rivonia Trial prisoners spent their days breaking rocks into gravel, until being reassigned in January 1965 to work in a lime quarry. Mandela was initially forbidden to wear sunglasses, and the glare from the lime permanently damaged his eyesight.[143] At night, he worked on his LLB degree, but newspapers were forbidden, and he was locked in solitary confinement on several occasions for possessing smuggled news clippings.[144] Initially classified as the lowest grade of prisoner, Class D, he was permitted one visit and one letter every six months, although all mail was heavily censored

In April 1982 Mandela was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Tokai, Cape Town along with senior ANC leaders Walter Sisulu, Andrew Mlangeni, Ahmed Kathrada and Raymond Mhlaba; they believed that they were being isolated to remove their influence on younger activists.[172] Conditions at Pollsmoor were better than at Robben Island, although Mandela missed the camaraderie and scenery of the island.[173] Getting on well with Pollsmoor's commanding officer, Brigadier Munro, Mandela was permitted to create a roof garden,[174] also reading voraciously and corresponding widely, now permitted 52 letters a year.[175] He was appointed patron of the multi-racial United Democratic Front (UDF), founded to combat reforms implemented by South African President P. W. Botha. Botha's National Party government had permitted Coloured and Indian citizens to vote for their own parliaments which had control over education, health, and housing, but black Africans were excluded from the system; like Mandela, the UDF saw this as an attempt to divide the anti-apartheid movement on racial lines.

Recovering from tuberculosis exacerbated by the dank conditions in his cell,[185] in December 1988 Mandela was moved to Victor Verster Prison near Paarl. Here, he was housed in the relative comfort of a warder's house with a personal cook, using the time to complete his LLB degree.[186] There he was permitted many visitors[187] and organised secret communications with exiled ANC leader Oliver Tambo.[188] In 1989, Botha suffered a stroke, retaining the state presidency but stepping down as leader of the National Party, to be replaced by F. W. de Klerk.[189] In a surprise move, Botha invited Mandela to a meeting over tea in July 1989, an invitation Mandela considered genial.[190] Botha was replaced as state president by de Klerk six weeks later; the new president believed that apartheid was unsustainable and released a number of ANC prisoners.[191] Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, de Klerk called his cabinet together to debate legalising the ANC and freeing Mandela. Although some were deeply opposed to his plans, de Klerk met with Mandela in December to discuss the situation, a meeting both men considered friendly, before legalising all formerly banned political parties on 2 February 1990 and announcing Mandela's unconditional release.[192] Shortly thereafter, for the first time in 20 years, photographs of Mandela were allowed to be published in South Africa.

Mandela proceeded on an African tour, meeting supporters and politicians in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Libya and Algeria, continuing to Sweden where he was reunited with Tambo, and then London, where he appeared at the Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa concert in Wembley Stadium.[197] Encouraging foreign countries to support sanctions against the apartheid government, in France he was welcomed by President François Mitterrand, in Vatican City by Pope John Paul II, and in the United Kingdom he met Margaret Thatcher. In the United States, he met President George H.W. Bush, addressed both Houses of Congress and visited eight cities, being particularly popular among the African-American community.[198] In Cuba he met President Fidel Castro, whom he had long admired, with the two becoming friends.[199] He met President R. Venkataraman in India, President Suharto in Indonesia, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in Malaysia, Prime Minister Bob Hawke in Australia, and visited Japan; he did not visit the Soviet Union, a longtime ANC supporter.

Mandela proceeded on an African tour, meeting supporters and politicians in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Libya and Algeria, continuing to Sweden where he was reunited with Tambo, and then London, where he appeared at the Nelson Mandela: An International Tribute for a Free South Africa concert in Wembley Stadium.[197] Encouraging foreign countries to support sanctions against the apartheid government, in France he was welcomed by President François Mitterrand, in Vatican City by Pope John Paul II, and in the United Kingdom he met Margaret Thatcher. In the United States, he met President George H.W. Bush, addressed both Houses of Congress and visited eight cities, being particularly popular among the African-American community.[198] In Cuba he met President Fidel Castro, whom he had long admired, with the two becoming friends.[199] He met President R. Venkataraman in India, President Suharto in Indonesia, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in Malaysia, Prime Minister Bob Hawke in Australia, and visited Japan; he did not visit the Soviet Union, a longtime ANC supporter.

The Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) began in December 1991 at the Johannesburg World Trade Center, attended by 228 delegates from 19 political parties. Although Cyril Ramaphosa led the ANC's delegation, Mandela remained a key figure, and after de Klerk used the closing speech to condemn the ANC's violence, he took to the stage to denounce de Klerk as "head of an illegitimate, discredited minority regime". Dominated by the National Party and ANC, little negotiation was achieved.[208] CODESA 2 was held in May 1992, in which de Klerk insisted that post-apartheid South Africa must use a federal system with a rotating presidency to ensure the protection of ethnic minorities; Mandela opposed this, demanding a unitary system governed by majority rule.[209] Following the Boipatong massacre of ANC activists by government-aided Inkatha militants, Mandela called off the negotiations, before attending a meeting of the Organisation of African Unity in Senegal, at which he called for a special session of the UN Security Council and proposed that a UN peacekeeping force be stationed in South Africa to prevent "state terrorism". The UN sent special envoy Cyrus Vance to the country to aid negotiations.[210] Calling for domestic mass action, in August the ANC organised the largest-ever strike in South African history, and supporters marched on Pretoria

Presiding over the transition from apartheid minority rule to a multicultural democracy, Mandela saw national reconciliation as the primary task of his presidency.[243] Having seen other post-colonial African economies damaged by the departure of white elites, Mandela worked to reassure South Africa's white population that they were protected and represented in "the Rainbow Nation".[244] Although his Government of National Unity would be dominated by the ANC,[245] he attempted to create a broad coalition by appointing de Klerk as first Deputy President and appointing other National Party officials as ministers for Agriculture, Energy, Environment, and Minerals and Energy, as well as naming Buthelezi as Minister for Home Affairs.[246] The other cabinet positions were taken by ANC members, many of whom – like Joe Modise, Alfred Nzo, Joe Slovo, Mac Maharaj and Dullah Omar – had long been comrades, although others, such as Tito Mboweni and Jeff Radebe, were much younger.[247] Mandela's relationship with de Klerk was strained; Mandela thought that de Klerk was intentionally provocative, and de Klerk felt that he was being intentionally humiliated by the president.[248] In January 1995, Mandela heavily chastised him for awarding amnesty to 3,500 police just before the election, and later criticised him for defending former Minister of Defence Magnus Malan when the latter was charged with murder.

Mandela's administration inherited a country with a huge disparity in wealth and services between white and black communities. Of a population of 40 million, around 23 million lacked electricity or adequate sanitation, 12 million lacked clean water supplies, with 2 million children not in school and a third of the population illiterate. There was 33% unemployment, and just under half of the population lived below the poverty line.[256] Government financial reserves were nearly depleted, with a fifth of the national budget being spent on debt repayment, meaning that the extent of the promised Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) was scaled back, with none of the proposed nationalisation or job creation.[257] Instead, the government adopted liberal economic policies designed to promote foreign investment, adhering to the "Washington consensus" advocated by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Mandela expressed the view that "South Africa's future foreign relations [should] be based on our belief that human rights should be the core of international relations".[271] Following the South African example, Mandela encouraged other nations to resolve conflicts through diplomacy and reconciliation.[272] In September 1998, Mandela was appointed Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement, who held their annual conference in Durban. He used the event to criticise the "narrow, chauvinistic interests" of the Israeli government in stalling negotiations to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and urged India and Pakistan to negotiate to end the Kashmir conflict, for which he was criticised by both Israel and India.[273] Inspired by the region's economic boom, Mandela sought greater economic relations with East Asia, in particular with Malaysia, although this was scuppered by the 1997 Asian financial crisis.[274] He attracted controversy for his close relationship with Indonesian President Suharto, whose regime was responsible for mass human rights abuses, although privately urged him to withdraw from the occupation of East Timor.

The new Constitution of South Africa was agreed upon by parliament in May 1996, enshrining a series of institutions to check political and administrative authority within a constitutional democracy.[286] De Klerk opposed the implementation of this constitution, and that month he and the National Party withdrew from the coalition government in protest.[287] The ANC took over the cabinet positions formerly held by the Nationalists, with Mbeki becoming sole Deputy President.[288] When both Mandela and Mbeki were out of the country on one occasion, Buthelezi was appointed "Acting President", marking an improvement in his relationship with Mandela.[289] Although Mandela had often governed decisively in his first two years as President,[290] he had increasingly delegated duties to Mbeki after that, only retaining a close personal supervision of intelligence and security measures.[290] On a 1997 visit to London, he said that "the ruler of South Africa, the de facto ruler, is Thabo Mbeki. I am shifting everything to him."

Retiring in June 1999, Mandela sought a quiet family life, to be divided between Johannesburg and Qunu. He set about authoring a sequel to his first autobiography, to be titled The Presidential Years, but it was abandoned before publication.[297] Finding such seclusion difficult, he reverted to a busy public life with a daily programme of tasks, meeting with world leaders and celebrities, and when in Johannesburg worked with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, founded in 1999 to focus on rural development, school construction, and combating HIV/AIDS.[298] Although he had been heavily criticised for failing to do enough to fight the pandemic during his presidency, he devoted much of his time to the issue following his retirement, describing it as "a war" that had killed more than "all previous wars"; affiliating himself with the Treatment Action Campaign, he urged Mbeki's government to ensure that HIV+ South Africans had access to anti-retrovirals.[299] In 2000, the Nelson Mandela Invitational charity golf tournament was founded, hosted by Gary Player.[300] Mandela was successfully treated for prostate cancer in July 2001

In June 2004, aged 85 and amid failing health, Mandela announced that he was "retiring from retirement" and retreating from public life, remarking "Don't call me, I will call you."[309] Although continuing to meet with close friends and family, the Foundation discouraged invitations for him to appear at public events and denied most interview requests.

In February 2011, he was briefly hospitalised with a respiratory infection, attracting international attention,[326] before being re-hospitalised for a lung infection and gallstone removal in December 2012.[327] After a successful medical procedure in early March 2013,[328] his lung infection recurred, and he was briefly hospitalised in Pretoria.[329] On 8 June 2013, his lung infection worsened, and he was rehospitalised in Pretoria in a serious condition.[330] On 23 June 2013, Zuma announced that Mandela's condition had become "critical".[331][332][333] Zuma, accompanied by the Deputy President of the ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa, met Mandela's wife Graça Machel at the hospital in Pretoria and discussed his condition.[334] On 25 June Cape Town Archbishop Thabo Makgoba visited Mandela at the hospital and prayed with Graça Machel Mandela "at this hard time of watching and waiting".[335] The next day, Zuma visited Mandela in the hospital and cancelled a visit scheduled for the next day to Mozambique.[336] In September 2013, Mandela was discharged from hospital,[337] although his condition remained unstable.

Mandela was a practical politician, rather than an intellectual scholar or political theorist.[347] Although he presented himself in an autocratic manner in several speeches, he was a devout believer in democracy and abided by majority decisions even when deeply disagreeing with them.[348] Mandela identified as both an African nationalist, an ideological position he held since joining the ANC,[349] and a democratic socialist.[350] He advocated the ultimate establishment of a classless society,[351] with Sampson describing him as "openly opposed to capitalism, private land-ownership and the power of big money".[352] Mandela was influenced by Marxism, and during the revolution he advocated scientific socialism.[353] During the Treason Trial, he denied being a communist,[354] maintaining this stance when later talking to journalists.[355] Conversely, biographer David Jones Smith stated that Mandela "embraced communism and communists" in the late 1950s and early 1960s,[356] while historian Stephen Ellis found evidence that Mandela had been an active member of the South African Communist Party (SACP).[357] This was confirmed after his death by the SACP and the ANC. According to the SACP, he was not only a member of the party, but also served on the party's Central Committee.[1

Mandela was widely considered a charismatic leader,[372] with biographer Mary Benson describing him as having been "a born mass leader who could not help magnetizing people".[373] While living in Johannesburg in the 1950s, he cultivated the image of the "African gentleman", having "the pressed clothes, correct manners, and modulated public speech" associated with such a position.[374] In the 1990s he came to be associated closely with the highly coloured "Madiba shirts" that he began wearing.[375] He was highly image conscious, and throughout his life always sought out fine quality clothes, with many commentators believing that he carried himself in a regal manner.[376] His aristocratic heritage was repeatedly emphasised by supporters, thus contributing to his "charismatic power".[377] His official biographer Anthony Sampson commented that he was a "master of imagery and performance", excelling at presenting himself well in press photographs and producing soundbites.[378] His public speeches were presented in a formal, stiff manner, and often consisted of clichéd set phrases.[379] In describing his life, Mandela stated that "I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances"

By the time of his death, within South Africa Mandela was widely considered both "the father of the nation",[409] and "the founding father of democracy",[410] being seen as "the national liberator, the saviour, its Washington and Lincoln rolled into one".[411] Outside of South Africa, he was a "global icon", with the scholar of South African studies Rita Barnard describing him as "one of the most revered figures of our time".[412] One biographer considered him "a modern democratic hero",[413] while his popularity had resulted in a cult of personality building up around him.[414] He is often cited alongside Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. as one of the 20th century's exemplary anti-racist and anti-colonial leaders.[415] Boehmer described him as "a totem of the totemic values of our age: toleration and liberal democracy",[416] and "a universal symbol of social justice".

Many artists have dedicated songs to Mandela. One of the most popular was from The Special AKA who recorded the song "Free Nelson Mandela" in 1983, which Elvis Costello also recorded and had a hit with. Stevie Wonder dedicated his 1985 Oscar for the song "I Just Called to Say I Love You" to Mandela, resulting in his music being banned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation.[446] Mandela has been depicted in cinema and television on multiple occasions. He was portrayed by Danny Glover in the 1987 HBO telefilm Mandela.[447] The 1997 film Mandela and de Klerk starred Sidney Poitier as Mandela,[448] and Dennis Haysbert played him in Goodbye Bafana (2007).[449] In the 2009 BBC telefilm Mrs Mandela, Mandela was portrayed by David Harewood,[450] and Morgan Freeman portrayed him in Invictus (2009).[451] Terrence Howard portrayed him in the 2011 film Winnie Mandela.[452] He is portrayed by Idris Elba in the 2013 film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.[453]