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Mandela Is Born
Rolihlahla Mandela is born in Mvezo, a tiny village in the Transkei, a former British protectorate in the south. His father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, was a chief of the Thembu people, a subdivision of the Xhosa nation. The new child’s given name translates, colloquially, as troublemaker. He receives his more familiar English name, Nelson, from a teacher at age 7. -
Attends Uinversity
Mr. Mandela is admitted to the University of Fort Hare, a black institution. Two years later he will be expelled for leading a student protest. -
Forms The A.N.C Youth League
Mr. Mandela and other activists form the African National Congress Youth League after becoming disenchanted with the cautious approach of the older members of the A.N.C. The league’s formation marks the shift of the congress to a mass movement. But its manifesto, so charged with pan-African nationalism, offends some non-black sympathizers. -
First Marriage
Mr. Mandela marries Evelyn Ntoko Mase. The couple will have four children, but Mr. Mandela's political activites will put a strain on the relationship. The couple will divorce in 1958. -
National Party Takes Power, Laying Foundation for Apartheid
The National Party takes power in South Africa and sets out to construct apartheid, a system of strict racial segregation and white domination. -
Mandela Starts Law Practice
Mr. Mandela and Oliver Tambo open South Africa's black law practice. -
Mandela Arrested on Treason Charges
Mr. Mandela is arrested at his home and charged with treason, along with 155 others who called for a nonracial state in South Africa. -
During Trial, a Second Marriage
In the midst of Mr. Mandela’s trial on treason charges, he marries Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela, 16 years his junior. The tumultuous union will produce two daughters and a national drama of forced separation, devotion, remorse and acrimony. -
Killings in Sharpeville
The police fire on a demonstration in Sharpeville, killing 69 people and wounding 181. After the shooting, the South African government bans black political groups and gatherings, and arrests thousands. The A.N.C. is among the banned groups. Its members go underground and begin planning a campaign of direct attacks on the apartheid government. -
Acquitted of Treaso
Mr. Mandela and his co-defendants are acquitted of treason. Fearing he will be arrested again, Mr. Mandela goes underground. -
Mandela Helps Form Guerrilla Army
Mr. Mandela and other A.N.C. leaders form a military wing called Umkhonto we Sizwe, or Spear of the Nation. Mr. Mandela becomes the first commander in chief of the guerrilla army. He will train to fight, work to obtain weapons for the group, and come to be known as the Black Pimpernel, but he will never see combat. -
Mandela Arrested Again
Mr. Mandela is arrested after returning to South Africa from a trip abroad. At the time of his arrest, he had been living underground for 17 months. He is convicted of leaving the country illegally and incitement to strike, and is sentenced to five years in prison. -
Government Raid in Rivonia
The police raid a farm in Rivonia, outside Johannersburg, where the A.N.C. had set up its headquarters. They find documents outlining the group's plan for guerrilla warfare. Using the evidence found on the farm, the government charges Mr. Mandela aand eight co-defendants with sabotage consipracy to overthrow the government. The ensuing trial, which became known as the Rivonia trial, establishes Mr. Mandela's central role in the sturggle against apartheid. -
Sentenced to Life in Prison
Mr. Mandela and seven others are convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Mr. Mandela is sent to Robben Island prison, seven miles off the coast of Cape Town. He will spend the next 18 years there. -
Thousands of Students Protest Afrikaans Language in Soweto
Tens of thousands of students take to the streets of Soweto to oppose the use of Afrikaans as the language of instruction in black schools. The police fire on the protesters, setting off months of violence that will leave more than 570 people dead. The uprising is considered a turning point in the history of black resistance to apartheid. -
Moved From an Isolated Prison
Mr. Mandela and four other A.N.C. leaders are transferred from the Robben Island to Pollsmoor Prison in the suburbs of Cape Town. While many believe the move is intended to lessen the influence of the famous prisoners, government officials later say they wanted a way to open a discreet line of communication with the men. -
Refuses Pardon
South Africa’s president, P. W. Botha, offers to free Mr. Mandela if he renounces violence. Mr. Mandela refuses, saying the government must first dismantle apartheid. -
Secret Meetings With Government Begin
Kobie Coetsee, South Africa’s minister of justice, police and prisons, visits Mr. Mandela, who is in a hospital undergoing surgery for an enlarged prostate. Secret negotiations between Mr. Mandela and the government will continue for years without the public’s knowledge. During this time, Mr. Mandela will be taken on secret excursions outside the prison walls so he can reconnect with the world, after losing touch with it over decades as a prisoner. -
Government Cracks Down on Dissent
The government declares a nationwide state of emergency, granting itself sweeping powers, including authorization for the police to use force against protesters and to impose curfews. The decree bans the promotion of unlawful strikes, boycotts and protests and puts tight restrictions on the press. More than 1,000 activists are detained. -
Transferred to Another Prison
Mr. Mandela is transferred to the Victor Verster Prison Farm, about 50 miles from Cape Town. The South African government says he will not have to return to Pollsmoor Prison. -
Meets With the South African President
Mr. Mandela meets informally with Mr. Botha at the presidential office in Cape Town. It is the first publicly acknowledged meeting between Mr. Mandela and a government official outside prison, and leads to speculation that he will soon be released. -
New President Pledges to Phase Out Apartheid
F. W. de Klerk is sworn in as acting president of South Africa, replacing Mr. Botha, who suffered a stroke in January. Saying the country is about to enter an era of change, Mr. de Klerk reaffirms an earlier promise to phase out white rule. -
Prominent Political Prisoners Released
The government frees eight of the country’s most prominent political prisoners, including Walter Sisulu, 77, a mentor to Mr. Mandela and his close friend, in a gesture that is widely seen as a trial run for Mr. Mandela’s release. -
Ban Lifted on A.N.C.; Mandela's Release Promised
Mr. de Klerk lifts the ban on the A.N.C. and several other political organizations, and lifts many of the restrictions put in place when the state of emergency was declared four years earlier. He promises that Mr. Mandela will be released shortly. -
Mandela Freed
Mr. Mandela, now 71, is freed without conditions, ending 27 and a half years of imprisonment. For Mr. de Klerk, enlisting Mr. Mandela in negotiations over a new constitution seems to be the surest way to achieve his stated goal: to end political domination by the white minority without replacing it with domination by the black majority. -
A.N.C. Suspends Guerrilla Campaign
The A.N.C. announces that it has ordered the immediate suspension of its guerrilla campaign against apartheid, which started in the early 1960s. While the war between the A.N.C. and the government has operated on a low level for years, the announcement is significant because it gives Mr. de Klerk political ammunition to use against the right-wing opposition to negotiations. -
Deliberations Over Constitution Begin WIth Rocky Start
Negotiations begin to prepare an interim constitution based on full political equality. Mr. de Klerk and Mr. Mandela trade recriminations, with Mr. de Klerk criticizing Mr. Mandela for not disbanding the A.N.C.’s inactive guerrilla operation and Mr. Mandela saying that the president “has very little idea of what democracy is.” -
Breakup of Second Marriage
Mr. Mandela announces that he and his wife, Winnie, have agreed to separate. While saying that his love for Mrs. Mandela “remains undiminished,” Mr. Mandela makes clear that he considers the separation permanent. -
Attack on Boipatong Halts Negotiations
A mob descends on the black township of Boipatong, killing more than 40 people with guns, knives and axes. The A.N.C. contends that Zulu men and white police officers were responsible for the violence. A week after the attacks, Mr. Mandela announces that the A.N.C. will pull out of negotiations until the government takes steps to restore trust. The two sides do not return to negotiations until September. -
Popular Black Learder Killed; Clashes Follow
Chris Hani, the popular black leader of the South African Communist Party, is shot and killed by a white man. At least seven people are killed in clashes over the following days. Mr. Mandela appears on national television and calls for calm, urging a stronger commitment to negotiations, a contrast to the A.N.C.’s confrontational reaction to the massacre in Boipatong the year before. -
Mandela and de Klerk Share Nobel
Mr. Mandela and Mr. de Klerk share the Nobel Peace Prize. The two men accept the award with the strained grace that has characterized their relationship, and Mr. Mandela declines to repeat his much-quoted assessment of Mr. de Klerk as a man of integrity. -
Constitution Movves Closer to Passage
Black and white leaders endorse a new constitution for South Africa that tries to balance majority rule with safeguards to reassure whites and other minorities. But the Zulu-based Inkatha Freedom Party and an array of white separatist groups threaten to boycott elections and hint at insurrection. -
A.N.C. Wins Majority in Election; Mandela Becomes President
General voting opens in the first election in South African history that includes black participation. Despite months of violence leading up to the vote, not a single person is reported killed in election-related violence. When the voting concludes on April 29, the A.N.C. has won more than 62 percent of the vote, earning 252 of the 400 seats in Parliament's National Assembly. Mr. Mandela is chosen as president without opposition. -
Mandela Sworn In as President
Mr. Mandela is sworn in as president of South Africa, making a speech of shared patriotism that summons South Africans’ communal exhilaration in their land and their relief at being freed from the world’s disapproval. -
Reconciliation Through Rugby
South Africa’s national rugby team wins the World Cup final. The team, the Springboks, was banned from international competition until 1992, and was long seen as a symbol of oppression by many black South Africans. Mr. Mandela’s call for blacks to support the team is hailed as a masterly move toward racial reconciliation. He congratulates the team while wearing a green Springboks jersey, in a stadium full of cheering white rugby fans. -
Petition for Divorce Granted
A judge grants Mr. Mandela’s petition for a divorce from his wife, Winnie. -
Third Marriage at 80
On his 80th birthday, Mr. Mandela marries Graça Machel, the 52-year-old widow of the former president of Mozambique, Samora Machel. -
Succeeded by Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mbeki is inaugurated Mr. Mandela’s successor as president of South Africa after another electoral victory for the A.N.C. After five years with Mr. Mandela at the helm, the country still faces serious problems of poverty and crime, but it has made the transition to democracy while maintaining widespread respect for the law and avoiding political revenge killings. -
Retires From the Public Eye
Mr. Mandela says he will severely reduce his public activities so he can spend his remaining years resting and writing. A month shy of 86, he is increasingly frail and has trouble walking. -
Mandela Dies T 95
The government announces that Mr. Mandela has died, leaving the nation without its moral center at a time of growing dissatisfaction with the country’s leaders. “Our nation has lost its greatest son,” President Jacob Zuma said in a televised address late Thursday night, adding that Mr. Mandela had died at 8:50 p.m. local time.
