source: 4WardEverUK Writers

published: 4 December 2023

Image Credit: Valeria Boltneva at www.Pexels.com

From all of our hundreds of Remembrance Calendar entries, we particularly feature certain cases that were of notable historical significance.

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, into a royal family of the Xhosa-speaking Thembu tribe in the South African village of Mvezo, where his father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa (c. 1880-1928), served as chief. His mother, Nosekeni Fanny, was the third of Mphakanyiswa’s four wives, who together bore him nine daughters and four sons.

After the death of his father in 1927, 9-year-old Mandela (then known by his birth name, Rolihlahla) was adopted by Jongintaba Dalindyebo, a high-ranking Thembu regent who began grooming his young ward for a role within the tribal leadership.

'Free Nelson Mandela' by The Specials became the undisputed international anthem calling for the release of the anti apartheid freedom fighter, who helped bring an end to apartheid and became (and remains) a global advocate for human rights.

The first in his family to receive a formal education, he completed primary studies at a local missionary school. A teacher dubbed him Nelson as part of a common practice of giving African students English names. He went on to attend the Clarkebury Boarding Institute and Healdtown, a Methodist secondary school, where he excelled in boxing and track sports as well as academics.

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Nelson Mandela Foundation

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Nelson Mandela memorial: Obama lauds 'giant of history'

10 December 2013

Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president, dies aged 95

6 December 2013