When did Nelson Mandela die, why was he called Madiba, why was he imprisoned and who were his wives?
NELSON Mandela was the hero of the apartheid struggle who almost single-handedly laid the foundations of a free South Africa.
He spent 26 years in jail and then became the nation's first black president, won the Noble Peace Prize and is one of the most revered figures of the 20th century.
When did Nelson Mandela die?
Nelson Mandela died at his home in Johannesburg on December 5, 2013, aged 95.
Tributes were paid to the freedom fighter from across the world.
His imprisonment came to symbolise the prison that black South Africans were living in under the apartheid system.
In 1990, after 27 years in jail for trying to overthrow the unjust regime, Mandela walked free and four years later became the reborn nation's first democratically elected leader.
Along with President FW de Klerk - who ended apartheid - they won the Nobel Peace Prize and on April 27, 1994, he voted for the first time in his life.
Keeping to his promise, the leader served one term during which time he aimed to forge a forward-looking and inclusive democracy which aimed to move on from the past.
From then until his death, despite his advancing years, he worked on charitable projects helping poor children.
Why was he called Madiba?
Nelson Mandela's clan name is Madiba.
He began being called Madiba as it referred to his African roots rather than his English name of Nelson.
While he served as president and in the years leading to his death the wider public had also taken to referring to him as Madiba.
Why was Mandela sent to jail?
In 1962, while he led the anti-apartheid African National Congress (ANC), he was arrested for conspiring to overthrow the state and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial.
During the trial, Mandela - a trained lawyer who set up South Africa’s first black law firm - told the court: "I do not deny that I planned sabotage.
“I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness nor because I have any love of violence.
“I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation and oppression of my people by the whites."
After the sentencing, there were pro-Mandela demonstrations in Britain as well as a world petition calling for his release, which was handed to the United Nations Secretary General.
But Mandela ended up serving 26 years in prison right up until apartheid ended.
This was initially on Robben Island and later in the notorious Pollsmoor Prison as well as the Victor Verster Prison.
Who were Mandela's wives?
Nelson Mandela had three marriages, two of which collapsed under the strain of his intense political life.
The first was Evelyn Mase who like Mandela hailed from the rural Transkei and had come to Johannesburg in the early 1940s to carve out a living in the big city.
They had three children together - Madiba Thembekile, Makgatho and Makaziwe.
His two sons, Madiba and Makgatho, both died before their father.
Evelyn tired of his absence after a 1954 arrest, she left him.
His second and most famous wife was Winnie Madikizela - who died aged 81 on April 2, 2018 - whom he married in 1958.
They had two daughters Zenani and Zindziswa.
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She was to later battle tirelessly to release her husband.
Shortly after his release, Mandela separated from his wife, Winnie, on the grounds of her adultery.
She had also been convicted on charges of kidnapping and accessory to assault.
On his 80th birthday, Nelson Mandela married Graca Machel, the widow of the former president of Mozambique.
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