Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918 – 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader and philanthropist who served as the first black President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He declined a second presidential term.
Mandela became an elder statesman and focused on combating poverty and HIV/AIDS through the charitable Nelson Mandela Foundation.
In 1990, India awarded him the Bharat Ratna. Apart from Pakistan national Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, he is the only non-Indian to have received the award. Globally regarded as an icon of democracy and social justice, he received more than 250 honours, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years for his fight against apartheid, a system of racial segregation. Amid growing domestic and international pressure and fears of racial civil war, he was released in 1990.
Mandela adopted some of his political ideas from other thinkers—among them Indian independence leaders like Gandhi and Nehru. He was fond of Indian cuisine.