The life of Nelson Mandela
Former South African President Nelson Mandela died at the age of 95 in the company of his family, President Jacob Zuma announced.
Chris Jackson/Getty Images
| December 5, 2013
Mandela had been hospitalized earlier this year due to a lung infection.
JEAN-MARC BOUJU/Associated Press/File 1999
| December 5, 2013
Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years for fighting apartheid in South Africa.
STR/AFP/Getty Images/File 1961
| December 5, 2013
President Barack Obama paused as he spoke about Mandela's death. "He belongs to the ages," the US president said.
Carolyn Kaster/AP
| December 5, 2013
Lungi Morrison, the granddaughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, sang after lighting a candle for Mandela in London.
SUZANNE PLUNKETT/Reuters
| December 5, 2013
Mandela joined the African National Congress in 1944 after "a steady accumulation of a thousand slights" produced in him a desire to fight apartheid.
BARBARA KINNEY/AFP/Getty Images/File 2012
| December 5, 2013
He was a corecipient of the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize and was elected president of South Africa in 1994.
Juda Ngwenya/Reuters/file 1993
| December 5, 2013
Zuma said a state funeral will be held. "This is the moment of our deepest sorrow," he said.
Kevin Carter/Reuters/file 1994
| December 5, 2013
Two people sang at a gathering in memory of Mandela outside the South African High Commission in London.
SUZANNE PLUNKETT/Reuters
| December 5, 2013
A man held candles in front of a mural of Mandela and Obama in New York.
SHANNON STAPLETON/Reuters
| December 5, 2013
He was never willing to bend on his fundamental aim of abolishing apartheid and making South Africa a multiracial society.
David Brauchli/Associated Press/File 1993
| December 5, 2013
After the government banned the ANC in 1960, he disavowed his commitment to nonviolence and organized the group's military arm.
John Parkin/Associated Press/File 1993
| December 5, 2013
On Feb. 11, 1990, he became a free man. He is pictured giving the black power salute the day after his release.
Adil Bradlow/associated press/file
| December 5, 2013
Mandela then enjoyed a triumphal tour of seven US cities, including Boston.
Barry Chin/Globe Staff/File 1990
| December 5, 2013
At the Kennedy Library in Boston, he joked that "right now, I consider myself an honorary Irishman from Soweto."
Barry Chin/Globe Staff/File 1990
| December 5, 2013
Mandela had called on the US to take the opportunity offered by the end of the Cold War to promote democracy, peace, and prosperity.
Joshua Roberts/AFP/file 1994
| December 5, 2013
His predecessor and fellow Nobel recipient, F. W. de Klerk (right), served as Mandela's deputy president.
Remy de la Mauviniere/Associated Press/File 1992
| December 5, 2013
"It was as if God had taken a hand — a new turn in world history," de Klerk confided to his brother of Mandela's release.
Lise Aaserud/Associated Press/File 1993
| December 5, 2013
As president of South Africa, he struck an often-uneasy balance between transforming society while striving not to disaffect its Afrikaner population.
Patrick de Noirmont/Reuters/file 1993
| December 5, 2013
An example of this balancing act was the government’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
DAVID BRAUCHLI/Associated Press/File 1993
| December 5, 2013
The commission’s dedication to both investigation and forgiveness epitomized Mandela’s presidency.
Peter Andrews/Reuters/File 1994
| December 5, 2013
A Vatican ambassador approached Mandela to present his credentials at the president's office in Cape Town.
Guy Tillim/AFP/File 1994
| December 5, 2013
Mandela kissed the hand of an unidentified girl during a stroll in a London park.
ANDREW BUURMAN/Associated Press/File 1996
| December 5, 2013
He received an honorary degree from Amherst College.
Joe Tabacca for The Boston Globe/File 2005
| December 5, 2013