A look at the rise to legendary status in the life of Nelson Mandela. Credit: Wall Street Journal.
HE was one of the most iconic figures of modern times and countless words have been written about his life and times but there are things about Nelson Mandela you almost certainly didn't know. Here's just a few:
• He was born under the star sign of Cancer, on July 18, 1918. According the astrology.com.au, Cancerians are "highly emotional … highly caring, generous and intuitive" and "highly evolved, even spiritual."
• His real name was Rolihlahla, which in Xhosa translates as "troublemaker". His clan name was Madiba, and was used as a sign of respect and affection.
• He was given the name Nelson by his primary school teacher Miss Mdingane because it was customary for all the children at the Qunu school to be given Christian names.
• Mandela was circumcised when he was 16, in a tribal ceremony with 25 other boys. He later described the event as "a kind of spiritual preparation for the trials of manhood."
• He was married three times, to Graça Machel (m. 1998), Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (m. 1958-1996), Evelyn Mase (m. 1944-1956)
• He became a ward of the acting king of the Thembu royal family when his father died when he was young.
• Throughout his life he received more than 695 awards, include the Nobel Peace Prize and the US Congressional Medal.
• Three of his children died before him: daughter Makaziwe in 1947, at the age of nine months in 1947; son Madiba Thembekile (Thembi) in a car accident in 1969 and son Makgatho Lewanika of an AIDS-related illness in 2005
Zindzi Mandela, the youngest daughter of Mandela shows him a letter at his home in 2010. Source: AFP. Source: AFP
• Mandela stood a lofty 194cm tall - more than 6'4" in old measurements.
• He refused an arranged marriage in 1941
• He had prostate surgery in 1983
• He voted for the first time in April 1994, aged 75
• He was married (for the third time) on his 80th birthday, to Graca Machel
• His cell on Robben Island, the prison where Mandela was held from 1962 - 1982, measured 8 feet (2.4m) by 7 feet (2.1m).
• He was made an honorary citizen of Canada in 2001, one of only five people to receive the honour. Other include the 14th Dalai Lama and Burmese democracy fighter Aung San Suu Kyi
• The song Nelson Mandela, by The Specials, made it to Number 9 on the UK charts
• Marriage to Mandela made his wife Graca Machel the only woman in history to be first lady of two nations (she was previously married to the president of Mozambique, Samora Machel)
Mandela and wife Graca Machel at the 46664 World AIDS Day Concert in 2007. Source: AP Source: AP
•Morgan Freeman, Danny Glover and Sidney Poitier are among the actors who have portrayed Mandela in film.
•He referred to Naomi Campbell as his honorary granddaughter
•His prison number was 46664 - and it was used the raise AIDS awareness at the 46664 Concert in 2003, and event that featured performances by Beyonce and Bona and attarcetd more than 30,000 people
•His diet in prison was porridge and soup for breakfast, boiled maize for lunch and porridge and soup again for supper. In a letter to his then-wife Winnie from Robben Island in 1970 he wrote: "How I long for amasi (traditional South African fermented milk), thick and sour!
•He was awarded the International Lenin Peace Prize in 1990, but couldn't accept it until 2002 because he was in jail.
Sources: biography.com; nelsonmandela.org; imdb.com; mediaclubsouthafrica.com
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