Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in a village near Umtata in the Transkei (a former independent homeland created for South Africa's black people, now part of eastern cape province) on July 18, 1918. His father had four wives and Mandela is one of thirteen children.
'I have lost office, I have lost influence, I am now a has-been and that's the way I want to be treated,' the anti-apartheid hero, former South African president, Nobel prize winner and follower of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi said as tributes and good wishes overflowed on Friday.
Photo: Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images
