This Day in History: Nelson Mandela released from prison 25 years ago
Nelson Mandela, leader of the movement to end South African apartheid, is released from prison after 27 years on February 11, 1990, 25 years ago.
Mandela spent the first 18 of his 27 years in jail at the brutal Robben Island Prison. Confined to a small cell without a bed or plumbing, he was forced to do hard labor in a quarry. He could write and receive a letter once every six months, and once a year he was allowed to meet with a visitor for 30 minutes.
Mandela’s resolve remained unbroken, and while remaining the symbolic leader of the anti-apartheid movement, he led a movement of civil disobedience at the prison that coerced South African officials into drastically improving conditions on Robben Island.
Mandela led the negotiations with the minority government for an end to apartheid and the establishment of a multiracial government.
In 1993, Mandela and de Klerk were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
One year later, the ANC won an electoral majority in the country’s first free elections, and Mandela was elected South Africa’s president.
Mandela retired from politics in 1999, but remained a global advocate for peace and social justice until his death in December 2013.
