Nelson Mandela

Date

1918–2014

Description

City of birth: Mvezo
Country of birth: South Africa
Field of activity: Politics — activism, governance

More detail coming ...

Quotes

‘This is a moment I will never forget: Nelson Mandela, a man sentenced to life in prison because of his fight to end segregation in South Africa, walking away free after 27 years. As I watched him emerge from a car that day in 1990, I felt what many around the world did — overwhelming hope and joy. That Mandela survived was a testament to the power of the human spirit to overcome anything. A few years later I had the honor of meeting Mandela in person — and just sitting in the same room with him was like being in the presence of both grace and royalty. Even now, I can hardly believe that after living in a cell for nearly three decades, he is unscathed by bitterness. He is heralded as a legend around the world because of his brave stand for freedom, yet what’s even more amazing is that he allowed none of the indignities he withstood to turn his heart cold.’

Author

Oprah Winfrey

Speaker

Oprah Winfrey

Title of the publication

‘Oprah talks to Nelson Mandela’

Publisher (or journal name with vol. and number)

O, The Oprah Magazine

City of publication

Chicago

Country of publication (modern nation-state equivalent)

United States of America

Publication date

April 2001

Location [pp. or web]

http://www.oprah.com/world/oprah-interviews-nelson-mandela

Original language

English

Genre

Magazine

Context

Oprah Winfrey visited Nelson Mandela in 2001. She wrote: ‘It is in the couple's home, with the hills of Qunu in the background, that I again meet with my dear friend. I have made the trip from Chicago to South Africa because I want to better understand what Mandela has lived through. (A few days before our conversation, I visited Robben Island and stood in his tiny cell, trying to imagine spending years there.)’