Geburtstag: 18. Juli 1918
Todesdatum: 5. Dezember 2013
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela [nelsɒn xoˈliɬaɬa manˈdeːla] , in Südafrika häufig mit dem traditionellen Clannamen Madiba bezeichnet, oft auch Tata genannt , Initiationsname Dalibunga, war ein führender südafrikanischer Aktivist und Politiker im Jahrzehnte andauernden Widerstand gegen die Apartheid, sowie von 1994 bis 1999 der erste schwarze Präsident seines Landes.
Ab 1944 hatte er sich im African National Congress engagiert. Aufgrund seiner Aktivitäten gegen die Apartheidspolitik in seiner Heimat musste Mandela von 1963 bis 1990 27 Jahre als politischer Gefangener in Haft verbringen.
Ebenso wie Mahatma Gandhi oder Martin Luther King gilt er als herausragender Vertreter im Freiheitskampf gegen Rassentrennung, Unterdrückung und soziale Ungerechtigkeit. Mandela war der wichtigste Wegbereiter des versöhnlichen Übergangs von der Apartheid zu einem gleichheitsorientierten, demokratischen Staatswesen in Südafrika. 1993 erhielt er deshalb den Friedensnobelpreis. Bereits zu Lebzeiten wurde er für viele Menschen weltweit zum politischen und moralischen Vorbild.
— Nelson Mandela
auf dem Live8-Konzert in Johannesburg, 2. Juli 2005, bbc. co. uk
— Nelson Mandela
Antwort auf die Frage, welches nach Aids momentan das größte Problem der Welt sei. Interview im Reader's Digest, April 2005 rd-india. com
— Nelson Mandela
"No Easy Walk to Freedom", Rede auf dem ANC-Kongress, 21. September 1953, anc. org. za
— Nelson Mandela
Rede während der „Convention for a Democratic South Africa“, 20. Dezember 1991", anc. org. za
— Nelson Mandela
Grußwort am internationalen Tag der Solidarität mit dem Palästinensischen Volk, Pretoria, 4. Dezember 1997 anc. org. za
— Nelson Mandela
Rede am 10. Mai 1994 in Pretoria, nach seiner Wahl zum ersten schwarzen Präsidenten Südafrikas, anc. org. za
— Nelson Mandela
Grußwort am internationalen Tag der Solidarität mit dem Palästinensischen Volk, Pretoria, 4. Dezember 1997,
— Nelson Mandela
Aufruf nach dem Aufstand in Soweto 1976, veröffentlicht vom ANC am 10. Juni 1980, anc. org. za anc. org. za
— Nelson Mandela
bei seiner Vereidigung zum Präsidenten am 10. Mai 1994, dadalos-d. org
— Nelson Mandela
Context: His philosophy of Satyagraha is both a personal and a social struggle to realize the Truth, which he identifies as God, the Absolute Morality. He seeks this Truth, not in isolation, self-centeredly, but with the people. He said, "I want to find God, and because I want to find God, I have to find God along with other people. I don't believe I can find God alone. If I did, I would be running to the Himalayas to find God in some cave there. But since I believe that nobody can find God alone, I have to work with people. I have to take them with me. Alone I can't come to Him."
— Nelson Mandela
Context: Yes! We affirm it and we shall proclaim it from the mountaintops, that all people – be they black or white, be they brown or yellow, be they rich or poor, be they wise or fools, are created in the image of the Creator and are his children! Those who dare to cast out from the human family people of a darker hue with their racism! Those who exclude from the sight of God's grace, people who profess another faith with their religious intolerance! Those who wish to keep their fellow countrymen away from God's bounty with forced removals! Those who have driven away from the altar of God people whom He has chosen to make different, commit an ugly sin! The sin called Apartheid.
Also quoted in Nelson Mandela: from freedom to the future: tributes and speeches (2003), edited by Kader Asmal & David Chidester. Jonathan Ball, p. 332
— Nelson Mandela
Context: We succeeded to take our last steps to freedom in conditions of relative peace. We commit ourselves to the construction of a complete, just and lasting peace.
We have triumphed in the effort to implant hope in the breasts of the millions of our people. We enter into a covenant that we shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity — a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.
— Nelson Mandela
Context: Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world and is a powerful part of that world changing arsenal.
" Lighting your way to a better future : Speech delivered by Mr N R Mandela at launch of Mindset Network http://db.nelsonmandela.org/speeches/pub_view.asp?pg=item&ItemID=NMS909&txtstr=education%20is%20the%20most%20powerful," July 16, 2003 at db.nelsonmandela.org. ; Cited in: Nelson Mandela, S. K. Hatang, Sahm Venter (2012) Notes to the Future: Words of Wisdom. p. 101.
— Nelson Mandela
Context: Our march to freedom is irreversible. We must not allow fear to stand in our way. Universal suffrage on a common voters' roll in a united, democratic and non-racial South Africa is the only way to peace and racial harmony.
— Nelson Mandela
Context: I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
