On 18 July 1918 Rolilahla Mandela was born into a royal family. The family he was born into was from the Thembu tribe and resided in the Mvezo village in South Africa. He was born to Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa who served as chief and Nosekeni Fanny who was the third of the four wives Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa had. Nelson was one of four boys and also one of 13 children his father had. After his father's death when he was nine, he was adopted by a high-ranking regent of the Thembu tribe called Jongintaba Dalindyebo. Jongintaba Dalindyebo raised Nelson to play a role within the tribal leadership. Nelson was the first of his 13 brothers and sisters to receive a formal education. Nelson finished his education at one of the local mission schools, where his teacher actually gave him the Nelson. Nelson continued his studies at Clarkebury Boarding Institute and Healdtown, which was a Methodist secondary school. At this school Nelson would excel in his studies as well as in boxing and track and field. In the year 1939, Nelson attended the only Western-taught school of higher learning available to black South Africans called The University of Fort Hare. In the year 1940 Nelson and some other students, including his friend and business partner Oliver Tambo, were ordered to be sent home to participate in the boycott against the university's policies. When Nelson learned of the arranged marriage his adoptive father had planned for him, he fled to Johannesburg. Nelson would work as a night watchman and law clerk, all while earning his college degree. While Nelson became an activist in the movement against racial discrimination, he studied law at the University of the Witwatersrand. In the year 1944 wo......middle of paper......i.e. the people who admired him. There were protests and boycotts not only in favor of the anti-apartheid movement but also in favor of the release of Nelson Mandela. These protests and boycotts continued until their demands were answered. Not only did the South African people get their rights, but Nelson Mandela was released from prison by the new president FD Klerk. Soon after his release he became the leader of the ANC and potential president. Now that blacks could vote, most if not all voted for Mandela and he was elected South Africa's first black president in May 1994. A&E Television Networks. "Nelson Mandela." History.com. http://www.history.com/topics/nelson-mandela (accessed 19 February 2014). BBC. "Nelson Mandela." BBC News. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/famouspeople/nelson_mandela/#item-article-01 (accessed February 19, 2014).