Nelson Mandela was a revolutionary South African leader who fought against apartheid. He was president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, being the first black South African to hold the office. Mandela helped establish the African National Congress youth league in 1944 and its armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe, in 1961 to combat the ruling apartheid government through acts of sabotage. He was arrested and spent 27 years in prison before being released in 1991. After his release, Mandela became president of the ANC and was elected President of South Africa in 1994, helping dismantle the country's apartheid system.