Nelson Mandela

The South African anti-apartheid revolutionary inspired an international campaign for his release from prison where he was serving a life sentence on charges of sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government. After 27 years in prison, he was released in 1990; three years later he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with F.W. de Klerk for their work to undo South Africa’s racist apartheid policies. In 1994, Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa's first black president, a position he held until 1999. Among other accolades, he has variously been called "the father of the nation,” "the founding father of democracy,” and "the national liberator, the savior, its Washington and Lincoln rolled into one.