Born in Mvezo, South Africa, in 1918, Mandela was given the name Rolihlahla, which translates roughly to 'troublemaker' in his native tongue. What an apt name, for a man who would become one of the world's biggest troublemakers, and in the process, help to bring down an entire institution built on racial discrimination.
At the age of seven, he became the first member of his family to attend school, where an English teacher gave him the name he still uses today: Nelson.
Even as a young man, Nelson began to show the initiative and sense of outrage necessary to become a great social leader. Shortly after earning his BA from the University of South Africa, he began attending African National Congress party meetings, and soon immersed himself into South Africa's hotly contested political scene. By 1943, he was a full-fledged member of the ANC, and by 1944, he began to assume authority, when he founded the ANC Youth League.
It was at this time, during the late 1940's, that Apartheid found legitimisation through the election of the Afrikaner dominated National Party of South Africa, who steadily increased Apartheid-friendly legislation.
Photograph : Lionel Healing/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: 'May God not put any country in the fire that we were in'
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