The twentieth century's long struggle against colonial rule and racial oppression produced some of its most consequential political figures. Nelson Mandela, born on July 18, 1918, in Mvezo, emerged from that era as a freedom fighter and politician who worked in English and whose life became inseparable from the cause he represented.

Mandela was educated at the University of London and went on to write the autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, which stands as his most direct account of his own experience. He also worked as a screenwriter, adding another dimension to a public life that spanned decades of political upheaval. The breadth of international recognition he received reflects how widely his work was acknowledged: honors included the Nobel Peace Prize, the Atatürk International Peace Prize, the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding, the Order of José Martí, the Order of Eduardo Mondlane (1st class), the Order of the Star of Ghana, the Order of Jamaica, and the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, among others.

Academic institutions across multiple continents similarly recognized him, awarding honorary doctorates from Peking University, the University of Antwerp, the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne, the University of Pretoria, and Leiden University. He was also made an honorary citizen of Paris. Mandela died on December 5, 2013, having accumulated one of the most extensive records of formal international recognition of any political figure of his era.