“On the first day of school, my teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave each of us an English name and said that from thenceforth that was the name we would answer to in school. This was the custom among Africans in those days and was undoubtedly due to the British bias of our education.”

Anti-apartheid leader and South African president (1918–2013) spent 27 years in prison for his activism before becoming the nation’s first democratically elected leader. His work to dismantle racial segregation and foster reconciliation earned him global recognition as a symbol of peace and justice.