> Which leader from the 1990s was often referred to as Madiba?And the answer: Nelson Mandela. Also known by his ancestral name of Madiba, Nelson Mandela was a South Africansocial rights activist, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for helping todismantle South Africa's apartheid system. He went on to become the country'sfirst Black president, serving from 1994 to 1999.Photo credit: TREVOR SAMSON | Credit: AFP via Getty Images.As the son of achief, Nelson Mandela grew up with access to the some of the best educationavailable to Black South Africans under apartheid. Mandela was raised withancestral stories of valor during the wars of resistance, instilling in youngMandela the need to contribute in his own way to the freedom struggle of hispeople. At Fort Hare University, Mandela first became involved with studentprotests, which would soon become a lifelong commitment to fighting injusticeand inequality. In his early twenties, Mandela moved to Johannesburg, where he first encounteredthe racial inequalities that pervaded the city (and would soon be set into lawwith apartheid). There, he joined the African National Congress (ANC), theoldest Black political organization in South Africa. Meanwhile, in 1948, thewhite electorate in South Africa voted into power the Nationalist government,and the battle lines were drawn. In 1955, the ANC and other organizations called upon people of all races togather in Kliptown to approve the Freedom Charter: a blueprint for a free,democratic, and multiracial South Africa. Mandela, one of the chief organizersof the gathering, was banned by the government from attending, and was forced towatch proceedings from the sidelines. Later, he and other members of the ANCwere charged with high treason, and were subject to nearly a five-year trialthat was designed to keep the Black organizers occupied and out of politics.Ultimately, it would be another 40 years until the Freedom Charter was able totake effect. Yet, Mandela never gave up the fight – even behind bars. In 1964, the activistwas sentenced to life in prison, and although it would be several decades untilhe could again walk free, his spirit never wavered. In 1990, Mandela wasreleased, and in May 1994 he was inaugurated as South Africa’s firstdemocratically elected President. > "I have fought against white domination. I have fought against black domination.I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all personslive together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which Ihope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I amprepared to die." – Nelson Mandela, 1964.