JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - On the 100th anniversary of his birth, here are key dates in the life of the late anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first black president.
July 18, 1918
He is born into the Thembu royal family in the rural ranskei.
1943
Joins the African National Congress (ANC), co-founding its Youth League the following year.
1952
Mandela leads a campaign of defiance against the apartheid system, installed four years earlier. He and Oliver Tambo open the first black law firm in Johannesburg.
1958
Marries his second wife, anti-apartheid figure Winnie Madikizela, whom he divorces in 1996.
1961
Mandela and other activists are acquitted on treason charges laid five years earlier. The ANC launches its armed wing with Mandela as commander in chief.
1962
He is captured and sentenced to prison for incitement and leaving the country illegally.
1964
Mandela and other senior anti-apartheid leaders are tried and sentenced to life for sabotage. He is sent to Robben Island prison off Cape Town.
1985
Refuses pardon offered by president P. W. Botha on condition he renounce violence.
1990
After 27 years in jail, Mandela is released.
1991
He is elected ANC president.
1993
Mandela and the last apartheid-era president, F.W. de Klerk, are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1994
The ANC wins the first all-race elections and Mandela is inaugurated as president.
1998
Marries Graca Machel, widow of former Mozambican president Samora Machel.
1999
He steps down after one term.
DECEMBER 5, 2013
After months of intensive medical care, Mandela dies aged 95.