Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 in South Africa and was one of 13 children. He became the first in his family to attend school and later studied law at university. In 1964, Mandela was sentenced to life in prison for opposing apartheid but was released in 1990 after 18 years. He then became a leader in dismantling apartheid and was later elected as South Africa's first Black president in 1994.