Here, Mandela found his true calling: opposition to segregationist policies. After studying law, he opened a firm in Johannesburg, meant to combat oppression. From there, he became a prominent leader in the ANC, taking part in such demonstrations as the 1952 Defiance Campaign and 1955 political summit called Congress of the People, which set the course for the anti-Apartheid movement.
Unfortunately, South Africa's politics continued to swing in favour of the National Party of South Africa, and ultimately, the ANC was banned in 1961, following the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, which saw 69 black protesters shot dead by South African police. Mandela, who had before been arrested but later acquitted on charges of treason, was again detained for his non-violent dissent.
In response to the presumed failings of a milder ANC, Mandela co-founded the Spear of the Nation, an armed wing of the party, dedicated to sabotage, secession and guerrilla tactics. After living on the run for 17 months, Mandela was eventually arrested in 1962, faced trial in 1964 and was sentenced to life imprisonment, to be served with hard labour on Robben Island.
Image: Nelson Mandela chips a rock in the quarry where he endured hard labour for 12 of his 19 years in South Africa's notorious prison on Robben Island off Cape Town. Former political prisoners held a reunion on the island as Mandela marked the fifth year of his liberation in February 1995.
Photograph : Guy Tillam/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: A South African Prison Diary
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