Rolihlahla Mandela was born on July 18, 1918 in Mvezo, Transkei. His parents were Nonqaphi Nosekeni and Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela. Nkosi was the principal advisor to Jongintaba Dalindyebo, who was the acting king of the Thembe people. The Transkei was one of the ten bantustans. This was land reserved for black residents of South Africa under the apartheid system. When Nkosi died, Rolihlahla was very young and so he became a ward of Jongintaba. He lived in Mqhekezweni Great Square and attended primary school in Qunu where his teacher gave him his new first name, Nelson. After completing his Junior Certificate (equivalent to a secondary school diploma) at Clarkebury Boarding Institute, he continued his studies at Healdtown, a prestigious Methodist secondary school in South Africa. After graduating, he attended the University of Fort Hare to obtain his Bachelor of Arts degree, but was expelled before he could complete his studies because he joined a student protest. Nelson went to the University of South Africa to complete his studies, then returned to Fort Hare to attend his graduation ceremony. In 1941, Mandela returned to the Grand Place to announce arranged marriages for him and his cousin. These marriages were arranged by Jongintaba. After learning of this, Nelson and his cousin fled to Johannesburg. Here, Mandela was employed in a mine as a night watchman until the chief learned that Mandela was on the run. Dismissed from the mine and residing in another cousin's house in George Goch township, Mandela was introduced to Walter Sisulu. Sisulu, was a real estate agent and an activist for the African National Congress. He found Mandela a job as an apprentice at the law firm of Witkin, Sidelsky and Eidelman. Within the company, Mandela became friends...... middle of paper ......y of South Africa during his ceremony in Cape Town. On February 11, 1990, he was released despite three previous parole offers. In 1991, Mandela was elected president of the African National Congress and engaged in talks aimed at ending white minority rule in South Africa. His peace efforts with President Frederik Willem de Klerk earned them the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. On May 10, 1994, with his daughter at his side, Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa's first democratically elected president. South. Unfortunately, all of Mandela's time in prison caused his second wife to have an affair and so he was granted a divorce in 1996. In 1998, on his 80th birthday, he married Graça Machel, the widow of Mandela. former president of Mozambique, and in 1999 he resigned as president after just one term. Nelson Mandela died at his home in Johannesburg in December 5, 2013.