iamencyclopedia

  NELSON MANDELA             Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1918. Mandela studied   at University College of Fort Hare, And He studied law at   the University of Witwatersrand.. He joined the African National Congress in 1944 and was engaged in resistance against the ruling National Party’s apartheid policies after 1948. He went on trial for treason in 1956-1961 and was acquitted in 1961. After the massacre of unarmed black South Africans by police forces at  Sharpeville  in 1960 and the subsequent banning of the ANC, Mandela abandoned his nonviolent stance and began advocating acts of  sabotage  against the South African regime. He went underground (during which time he became known as the Black Pimpernel for his ability to evade capture) and was one of the founders of  Umkhonto we Sizwe  (“Spear of the Nation”), the military wing of the ANC. In 1962 he went to  Algeria  for training in  guerrilla warfare  and sabotage, returning t