Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990 after 27 years and later became President of South Africa. F. W. de Klerk, South Africa’s state president, ordered his release on 11 February 1990 after growing domestic opposition and international pressure against apartheid.
Mandela had been imprisoned for opposing the apartheid system, which enforced racial segregation and white minority rule. He spent much of his sentence on Robben Island and was later moved to other prisons. In 1964, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for offenses connected with underground resistance activities.
After his release, Mandela led negotiations with de Klerk to dismantle apartheid and establish a multiracial democratic system. Their work helped produce South Africa’s first fully inclusive national election in April 1994. Mandela’s African National Congress won, and he was inaugurated as the country’s first Black president in May 1994.
Oliver Tambo was a fellow anti-apartheid leader, Steve Biko was a murdered activist, and Desmond Tutu was an archbishop and human-rights campaigner. None of them matches the prison-release and presidency described here.