Claim: Nelson Mandela is a Xhosa.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela -LRB- -LSB- mænˈdɛlə -RSB- 18 July 1918 -- 5 December 2013 -RRB- was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary , politician , and philanthropist , who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999 . He was the country 's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election . His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by tackling institutionalised racism and fostering racial reconciliation . Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist , he served as President of the African National Congress -LRB- ANC -RRB- party from 1991 to 1997 .   A Xhosa , Mandela was born in Mvezo to the Thembu royal family . He studied law at the University of Fort Hare and the University of the Witwatersrand before working as a lawyer in Johannesburg . There he became involved in anti-colonial and African nationalist politics , joining the ANC in 1943 and co-founding its Youth League in 1944 . After the National Party 's white-only government established apartheid -- a system of racial segregation that privileged whites -- he and the ANC committed themselves to its overthrow . Mandela was appointed President of the ANC 's Transvaal branch , rising to prominence for his involvement in the 1952 Defiance Campaign and the 1955 Congress of the People . He was repeatedly arrested for seditious activities and was unsuccessfully prosecuted in the 1956 Treason Trial . Influenced by Marxism , he secretly joined the banned South African Communist Party -LRB- SACP -RRB- . Although initially committed to non-violent protest , in association with the SACP he co-founded the militant Umkhonto we Sizwe in 1961 and led a sabotage campaign against the government . In 1962 , he was arrested for conspiring to overthrow the state and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial .   Mandela served 27 years in prison , initially on Robben Island , and later in Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison . Amid growing domestic and international pressure , and with fears of a racial civil war , President F. W. de Klerk released him in 1990 . Mandela and de Klerk negotiated an end to apartheid and organised the 1994 multiracial general election in which Mandela led the ANC to victory and became President . Leading a broad coalition government which promulgated a new constitution , Mandela emphasised reconciliation between the country 's racial groups and created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses . Economically , Mandela 's administration retained its predecessor 's liberal framework despite his own socialist beliefs , also introducing measures to encourage land reform , combat poverty , and expand healthcare services . Internationally , he acted as mediator in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial and served as Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999 . He declined a second presidential term and in 1999 was succeeded by his deputy , Thabo Mbeki . Mandela became an elder statesman and focused on combating poverty and HIV/AIDS through the charitable Nelson Mandela Foundation .   Mandela was a controversial figure for much of his life . Although critics on the right denounced him as a communist terrorist and those on the radical left deemed him too eager to negotiate and reconcile with apartheid 's supporters , he gained international acclaim for his activism . Widely regarded as an icon of democracy and social justice , he received more than 250 honours -- including the Nobel Peace Prize -- and became the subject of a cult of personality . He is held in deep respect within South Africa , where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name , Madiba , and described as the `` Father of the Nation '' .