Research Paper On Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela was an inspiring leader who spent his entire adult life working for equality and justice in South Africa. Mandela has inspired people around the world to work non-violently for a better life. Mandela is known by his supporters as "Madiba," his clan name, or by "Tata", which means "father."

Mandela was born on January 18, 1918, in Mvezo, Transkei, in the southeast of South Africa. He was named Rolihlahla, which means "troublemaker" in the Xhosa language. Mandela's grandfather was the ruler of the Thembu people and his father was a local chief.

Mandela was the first person in his family to attend school (both of his parents were illiterate). On the first day of school, a teacher at the Methodist mission school, Miss Mdingane, re-named him Nelson because all of the children had to be given Christian names. Nelson did well in school and went on to graduate from college and attend law school at University of the Witwatersrand where Mandela was the only black African student in his class. Mandela once said, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
He began to attend meetings of the African National Congress, or ANC, a revolutionary group whose aim was to fight apartheid, laws establishing racial separation and oppression in South