Nelson Mandela, the first black president in South Africa’s history and the man
credited with ending decades of oppressive apartheid, died Thursday at age 95.
Mandela was elected president after being imprisoned for almost three decades for fighting against white minority rule and racial segregation in South Africa.
Released from prison in 1990, Mandela helped negotiate the end of apartheid with F.W. de Klerk, the white president who freed him.
Mandela and de Klerk would share the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize. Mandela would serve as the nation’s president from his election in 1994 until he stepped down in 1999.
President Barack Obama, speaking to the press shortly after news of Mandela’s death circulated, said the free state of South Africa is an example to the world of Mandela’s legacy.
“We will not likely see the likes of Nelson Mandela again. So it falls to us as best we can to forward the example that he set: to make decisions guided not by hate, but by love; to never discount the difference that one person can make; to strive for a future that is worthy of his sacrifice,” Obama said. “I cannot fully imagine my own life without the example that Nelson Mandela set, and so long as I live I will do what I can to learn from him.”
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This article ran in print under the headline "Leaders mourn loss of Nelson Mandela."
