Nelson Mandela has died yesterday at
the age of 95, according to South African President Jacob Zuma. His death marks
the final chapter in a life that changed South Africa forever.
The former South African president
had been suffering from a recurring lung infection, and the Daily Telegraph reports
that his friends and family gathered at his bed same yesterday. Zuma announced
his death in a televised address to the nation, telling mourners that Mandela,
often affectionately referred to by
his Xhosa clan name
"Madiba," had passed away at 8:50 p.m. local time.
"Our nation has lost its
greatest son, yet what made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him
human," Zuma said. "We saw in him what we seek in ourselves, and in
him we saw so much of ourselves."
Mandela's struggle was one of the
defining stories of the 20th century. Trained as a lawyer, he became involved
in politics after 1948 as South Africa moved into a system of racial apartheid.
While initially espousing non-violent protests with the African National
Congress (ANC), he eventually founded a militant organization and was behind a
bombing campaign in the early 1960s. He was arrested and sentenced to life in
prison in 1962.
Initially
imprisoned in a 8-foot by
7-foot concrete cell with only a straw mat on which to sleep, Mandela's
imprisonment soon became an international cause. He was eventually released on
Feb. 2, 1990 after intervention by President F. W. de Klerk.
Mandela became
president of the ANC in 1991, and was elected president of South Africa in May
1994, a position in which he remained until 1999. During his time in office he
led the dismantling of the apartheid system, for which he was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1993.
Mandela is
survived by his wife, Graça Machel; six children; and 17 grandchildren.
Mandela had
been sick for a long time. Earlier this year, South Africa's Sunday Times ran a
story on Mandela's illness under the headline "It's time to let him go.
May his gentle soul rest in peace, Amen.
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