South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in a village called Mvezo. Mandela hailed from a prominent line of the Thembu people, and his father Gadla was an important chief with four wives and thirteen children between them. Despite the family’s prestige, Nelson lived modestly with his mother Nosekeni in an earthen dwelling, just like the other villagers.

Although she and her husband were illiterate, Nosekeni decided to enroll Nelson in primary school when he was seven years old. Mandela proved himself to be a bright student, quickly learning how to read and write.

Shortly after Mandela’s father passed away in 1930, the Thembu king, Jongintaba Dalindyebo, offered to mentor the boy. Mandela became an integral part of the family, and it’s said that he was treated as if he was Jongintaba’s own son.

It was while Mandela was living with Jongintaba and his family that he underwent a rite to cross over from boyhood to manhood. After this traditional rite of passage concluded, Mandela was sent to boarding school at Clarkebury High School and then to Healdtown to further his education.

Mandela’s next move was to the University of Fort Hare in 1939. Along with his studies, Mandela found time to take part in athletics, theatrical productions, and even the Student Christian Association.

Yet perhaps the most pivotal of Mandela’s extracurricular activities was his work with the Students’ Representative Council. At the end of his first year at Fort Hare, Mandela and the SRC became involved with a boycott against the poor quality of food at the school, which eventually led to his expulsion in 1940.

In late 1940, Mandela was startled to find out that his benefactor, Jongintaba, had arranged marriages for him and his foster brother Justice. Distraught, Mandela and Justice decided to run away to the South African capital of Johannesburg.

In Johannesburg, Mandela found work as a clerk in a law office, earning £2 a month. It was at this law firm that Mandela met Gaur Radebe, who first introduced him to the African National Congress. The aim of the ANC was to defend the rights of black South Africans, including giving them the right to vote.

Besides working and going to ANC meetings, Mandela picked up his studies, earning his bachelor’s degree in early 1943. After that, he enrolled at the University of Witwatersrand for a law degree, becoming the only black student at the school.

In 1944, Mandela married fellow ANC activist Evelyn Mase. The couple would go on to have four children together.

In 1948, the Herenigde Nasionale Party took over governance of South Africa. The HNP was dominated by white South Africans of European descent, who sought to segregate and suppress black and colored South Africans. The set of laws they enacted to institutionalize racial discrimination became known as apartheid.

It was this unequal treatment that galvanized Mandela and his fellow ANC members to action.

Massive protest movements broke out in the early 1950s, such as the Defiance Campaign, which led to about 8,000 protesters being arrested in 1952. Mandela, who was now a prominent leader of the ANC, had a so-called banning order handed to him, which banned him from attending ANC meetings and from even traveling outside of the city of Johannesburg.

Meanwhile, he continued his career as a lawyer, opening a law firm with fellow ANC activist Oliver Tambo in late 1952. This was the first law firm in South Africa run by black partners. Their office was a busy one, inundated with clients who sought justice for crimes—oftentimes police brutality—committed under the oppressive apartheid regime.

Things came to a head in December of 1956 when Mandela and several of his fellow ANC members were charged with high treason. Fortunately, after a drawn-out legal battle, Mandela and his cohorts were found not guilty.

After divorcing his first wife in 1958, Mandela promptly remarried. With his new wife Winnie, Mandela would have two daughters.

During a protest in Sharpeville, police began to shoot into the crowd, resulting in the deaths of 69 protestors. The aftermath of this massacre brought forth a tremendous outpouring of unrest, during which the South African government ended up taking an astonishing 18,000 people into custody. Mandela himself was arrested in 1960 and would spend five months in prison without being charged with a crime.

It was this response to what had been peaceful protests that convinced Mandela that further action needed to be taken. As a result, in 1961, he fashioned a militant group called Spear of the Nation. Its aim was to sabotage military installations, power stations, and the like.

In 1962, Mandela was arrested again. He was eventually sentenced to life in prison on charges of sabotage and conspiracy to violently overthrow the government. One of the most famous moments of the trial occurred on April 20, 1964, when Mandela issued his impassioned “I Am Prepared to Die” speech, explaining his actions and his dreams for a better South Africa.

In prison, Mandela and his associates were forced to work for the regime they hated as they quarried limestone under the unbearable heat of the sun. During his downtime in his cramped cell, Mandela wrote his autobiography which highlighted his vision of the future. This he had an associate smuggle out of prison in 1975.

In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, a movement to free Mandela gained traction among various activist groups. Due to the attention he was receiving, his treatment began to improve. By 1988, Mandela was transferred to Victor Verster Prison, where he was allowed to have guests come and visit him.

On February 11, 1990, Nelson Mandela finally gained his freedom after 27 years behind bars. During the next few years, he worked closely with the new president of South Africa, Frederik Willem de Klerk, to dismantle apartheid and bring peace to the country. Their efforts were so substantial that, in 1993, both Mandela and de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The national election of 1994 was the first in which native Africans had full voting rights. The outpouring of support for Mandela was overwhelming, seeing to it that he became the first president of the new Republic of South Africa.

Mandela left office in 1999 and planned to live out his days in retirement with his new wife, Graça Machel. However, even at age 81, this revolutionary found it hard to settle down. Mandela promptly became involved with the fight against HIV/AIDS through the Nelson Mandela Foundation. He also remained involved in international affairs and spoke out against the NATO intervention in Kosovo, the American invasion of Iraq, and the dictatorship of Robert Mugabe.

Nelson Mandela passed away on December 5, 2013, at the age of 95.

Age of death: 95

Place of death: Johannesburg, South Africa

Cause of death: Respiratory infection