![]() ![]() He welcomed the opportunity to partake in his people's customs and felt ready to make the transition from boyhood to manhood. Mandela participated in the ceremony with 25 other boys. In African tradition, an uncircumcised man cannot inherit his father's wealth, marry or officiate at tribal rituals. The ceremony of circumcision was not just a surgical procedure, but an elaborate ritual in preparation for manhood. When Mandela was 16, it was time for him to partake in the traditional African circumcision ritual to mark his entrance into manhood. READ MORE: 14 Inspiring Nelson Mandela Quotes Political Awakening While Black men shared their land, air and water with white people, white men took all of these things for themselves. He learned how the African people had lived in relative peace until the coming of the white people.Īccording to the elders, the children of South Africa had previously lived as brothers, but white men had shattered this fellowship. It was during this period that Mandela developed an interest in African history, from elder chiefs who came to the Great Palace on official business. Mandela took classes in a one-room school next to the palace, studying English, Xhosa, history and geography. Mandela was given the same status and responsibilities as the regent's two other children, his son and oldest child, Justice, and daughter Nomafu. Though he had not forgotten his beloved village of Qunu, he quickly adapted to the new, more sophisticated surroundings of Mqhekezweni. He traveled by motorcar to Mqhekezweni, the provincial capital of Thembuland, to the chief's royal residence. Mandela subsequently left the carefree life he knew in Qunu, fearing that he would never see his village again. He was adopted by Chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo, the acting regent of the Thembu people - a gesture done as a favor to Mandela's father, who, years earlier, had recommended Jongintaba be made chief. When Mandela was 12 years old, his father died of lung disease, causing his life to change dramatically. As was custom at the time, and probably due to the bias of the British educational system in South Africa, Mandela's teacher told him that his new first name would be Nelson. He went on to become the first in his family to attend school. EducationĪt the suggestion of one of his father's friends, Mandela was baptized in the Methodist Church. Mandela played the games of young boys, acting out male right-of-passage scenarios with toys he made from the natural materials available, including tree branches and clay. Water came from springs and streams and cooking was done outdoors. The family lived in huts and ate a local harvest of maize, sorghum, pumpkin and beans, which was all they could afford. The village was nestled in a narrow grassy valley there were no roads, only footpaths that linked the pastures where livestock grazed. Mandela was only an infant at the time, and his father's loss of status forced his mother to move the family to Qunu, an even smaller village north of Mvezo. Mandela's father, who was destined to be a chief, served as a counselor to tribal chiefs for several years but lost both his title and fortune over a dispute with the local colonial magistrate. "Rolihlahla" in the Xhosa language literally means "pulling the branch of a tree," but more commonly translates as "troublemaker." Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in the tiny village of Mvezo, on the banks of the Mbashe River in Transkei, South Africa. For generations to come, Mandela will be a source of inspiration for civil rights activists worldwide. ![]() de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to dismantle the country's apartheid system. In 1993, Mandela and South African President F.W. For 20 years, he directed a campaign of peaceful, nonviolent defiance against the South African government and its racist policies.īeginning in 1962, Mandela spent 27 years in prison for political offenses. After becoming involved in the anti- apartheid movement in his 20s, Mandela joined the African National Congress in 1942. Nelson Mandela was a social rights activist, politician and philanthropist who became South Africa’s first Black president from 1994 to 1999. ![]()
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