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Two Visions of Mandela

The fact that he had emerged from prison as a graceful, compassionate, forgiving individual has had a staggering global impact.

by Jon Lee Anderson


Mandela and the Politics of Forgiveness

The U.S. and South Africa have kindred histories, and Mandela was revered here as a proxy for the American past.

by Jelani Cobb


Nelson Mandela

In a post-heroic age, Mandela attained the stature of a classical hero: at once a righteously angry warrior and a wise and just peacemaker, an emblem of reconciliation. Everything that was most promising in South Africa was identified with him, and all that is wretched and dispiriting was seen not as his failure but as a failure of the country to live up to him.

by Philip Gourevitch


The Face of Freedom

Nelson Mandela, photographed in Soweto by Annie Leibovitz, in June, 1990.

by Annie Leibovitz


Nelson Mandela

To have lived one’s life at the same time, and in the same natal country, as Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a guidance and a privilege we South Africans shared. I also knew the privilege of becoming one of his friends. I met him in 1964, during the Rivonia Trial, when he was being tried for acts of sabotage against the government, and I was present in court when he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

by Nadine Gordimer


Nelson Mandela

We are sentimental about Nelson Mandela. We use words like “love” and “beauty.” We did not only love him; we wanted him, after his years of deprivation, to be enveloped in love.

by Zoë Wicomb


Nelson Mandela

by Nuruddin Farah

Mandela was a man apart. He was that rare individual whose time in detention served the useful purpose of solidifying his vision. In his decades of incarceration, he brought his outward existence and inner life into harmony; the depth of his humility ennobled him.


Nelson Mandela funeral preparations put authorities under pressure



The day South Africa came to pray, sing and celebrate in Soweto’s cathedral


Nelson Mandela’s office becomes a place of pilgrimage


UK to send huge political delegation to South Africa


Nelson Mandela shared final moments with wife and former wife, says friend


Nelson Mandela: national day of prayer for country’s ‘guiding light’


Barack Obama, Oprah and Bono to visit South Africa to pay tribute to Mandela


South Africa prepares for week-long commemoration of Mandela’s life


Prince Charles to attend Nelson Mandela funeral


Archbishop of Canterbury praises Nelson Mandela’s courage


After Mandela: memories and hearfelt recognition in Johannesburg’s township


Without the Observer, and David Astor, Mandela would have hanged


Anxious and conflicted: Afrikaners await a post-Mandela world


Mourning Nelson Mandela: dissenting voices amid the adulation


Mandela relatives mourn loss of the ‘pillar of the family’


Nelson Mandela: How Africa has changed in his lifetime


Nelson Mandela: how apartheid regime’s court tried to destroy the ANC


Nelson Mandela: the freedom fighter who embraced his enemies


Nelson Mandela: ‘On Robben Island he never asked for special treatment’


On the day of his release, Nelson Mandela stood tall


What Mandela meant to me: five South African voices 


Desmond Tutu: Mandela was the world’s most admired and most revered public figure


Chris McGreal: never forget how the free world’s leaders learned to change their tune


Nelson Mandela: A world statesman who made time for everyone


Peter Hain: Nelson Mandela and the Anti-Apartheid Movement


Sipho Hlongwane: Nelson Mandela’s meaning for young South Africans


Ken Wiwa: We Nigerians are celebrating Mandela as the kind of of hero we’ve never had


Ed Miliband: Mandela healed the wounds of the past with compassion and generosity


Nelson Mandela: a shining lesson that politics can be a tremendous force for good


Maya Angelou writes poem in honour of Nelson Mandela


What Mandela meant to me: five South African voices


India shows there can be life beyond the great liberator


Soweto comes together to celebrate Mandela


South Africa’s week of mourning for ‘outstanding son’ Mandela


Tributes and reaction to Mandela’s death – latest developments


Tributes and reaction – in pictures


Funeral to bring together world’s most powerful people


Nelson Mandela: a life in quotes


Nelson Mandela obituary


What will happen to Nelson Mandela’s family now the great unifier has gone?


Nelson and Winnie Mandela’s marriage ended, but the bond was never broken


The Conservative party’s uncomfortable relationship with Nelson Mandela


Datablog: how South Africa has changed since Nelson Mandela’s release 


The Eight Worst Conservative Responses To Nelson Mandela’s Death