Nelson Mandela was born in South Africa in 1918. He studied law and joined the African National Congress to fight against apartheid, a system that segregated black and white people. Mandela was arrested in the 1960s for protesting apartheid and spent 27 years in prison on Robben Island before being released in 1990. After his release, Mandela became president of South Africa in 1994, becoming the country's first black president and ending apartheid. He worked to bring peace to South Africa and help black citizens before retiring in 1999.

1. Nelson Mandela

2. Nelson Mandela was born in South Africa in 1918.

3. Until 1992, the government in South Africa ran an apartheid . An apartheid is when black people have to live apart from white people. Most black people had no jobs, were very poor and could not vote because of this.

4. Nelson grew up in a village and went away to study law when he was a young man. He wanted to help free black people from apartheid .

5. In 1944 he joined the African National Congress . They made protests about the apartheid but Nelson was arrested and jailed twice for being the leader of the ANC.

6. In 1960 the government killed many black people for taking part in these protests. In 1963 Nelson was sent to prison for taking part in these protests.

7. This is Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was kept in prison.

8. This is the prison.

9. This is the cell where Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison. He was released in 1990 after the laws were changed.

11. In 1991 he became president of the ANC and encouraged the president of Africa to end apartheid. He won the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize for this and then became president of South Africa in 1994 – and black people were allowed to vote for the first time.

12. He worked to bring peace to the country and to help black people. He retired in 1999 and now travels the world helping other countries solve their problems.