Nelson Mandela was born in Mvezo, a town in South Africa, on July 18, 1918.

At the time, his

country was called the South African Union and was in fact a British colony. Nelson Mandela's
birth name was Rolihlahla Mandela and he belonged to a family of Thembu nobility, people of
the Xhosa ethnic group.

Nelson Mandela's father was heir to the Thembu throne and was called Nkosi Mandela. He
had four wives, and Nelson Mandela was his son with Nonqaphi Nosekeni, his third wife. The
name Mandela received became known for meaning something like "troublemaker".

Mandela's mother was a Methodist Christian, and the young Mandela maintained strong
contact with Christianity throughout his childhood. His father died when he was nine years old
and Nelson Mandela was handed over by his mother to Jongintaba Dalindyebo, successor to
the Thembu throne. Mandela has always said that he was treated very well by his guardian
and his wife.

The name Nelson was given to the young Mandela during his childhood, when he was studying
at an elementary school. This was the custom of the English, who gave English names to the
inhabitants of the colony because they couldn't pronounce and write the local names.

In 1939, Nelson Mandela enrolled at a renowned South African university that was exclusively
for black students, the University of Fort Hare. There he enrolled in law, became involved in
the university's student movement and took part in some student protests, which led to his
expulsion.

In 1948, the far-right National Party, led by Daniel François Malan, won the elections, allowing
its leader to come to power in South Africa. This party established a regime of racial
segregation that took away a number of rights from black South Africans. The segregation
regime established by this party was called Apartheid.

Mandela's political engagement in the 1950s made him an enemy of the South African
government. Mandela and the ANC led a resistance based on civil disobedience and therefore
non-violence. However, the South African police treated black people with such violence that
this form of resistance began to lose strength in the country.

Mandela decided to abandon peaceful resistance and join the path of armed resistance, but
was arrested on charges of organizing a strike and leaving the country without permission on a
trip to countries like England, Morocco and Ethiopia, where he was seeking support against
Apartheid.