Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa, on 18 July Mandela himself was educated at University College of Fort Hare and University of Witwatersrand and qualified in law in He joined the African National Congress in 1944 and was engaged in resistance against the ruling National Party's apartheid policies after He went on trial for treason in and was acquitted in Nelson Mandela

From 1964 to 1982, he was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison, off Cape Town; thereafter, he was at Pollsmoor Prison, nearby on the mainland. During his years in prison, Nelson Mandela's reputation grew steadily. He was widely accepted as the most significant black leader in South Africa and became a potent symbol of resistance as the anti-apartheid movement gathered strength. He was released on 11 February In 1991, at the first national conference of the ANC held inside South Africa after the organization had been banned in 1960, Mandela was elected President of the ANC while his lifelong friend and colleague, Oliver Tambo, became the organisation's National Chairperson.

Mandela accepted the Nobel Peace Prize as an accolade to all people who have worked for peace and stood against racism. It was as much an award to his person as it was to the ANC and all South Africa’s people. Nelson Mandela personifies struggle. He is still leading the fight against apartheid with extraordinary vigour and resilience after spending nearly three decades of his life behind bars. He has sacrificed his private life and his youth for his people, and remains South Africa's best known and loved hero.

During the early fifties Mandela played an important part in leading the resistance to the Western Areas removals and to the introduction of Bantu Education. He also played a significant role in popularising the Freedon Charter, adopted by the Congress of the People in 1955.

On 27 June 2008 in London, in Hyde Park, has played a major concert to commemorate his ninety years, his commitment to the fight against racism and his contribution to the fight against AIDS. Surprising Nelson Mandela wanted to be present at the concert and received an extraordinary ovation from about 500 thousand people. On the sides of the stage stands the number 46664, the number that was written on his coat while in prison. Mandela gave a short speech in which he reiterated the reasons for his civil and political commitment, having thanked for the extraordinary expressions of affection and respect for him.

Tikhonovich Anatoli Marchenko (23 January 1938 – 8 December 1986) was an influential and well- known Soviet dissident, author and activist for human rights. He was the first recipient of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, European Parliament, awarded to him posthumously in 1988 (the only recipient to be honored in this way to date). Anatoli Marchenko

He also met a number of political prisoners, intellectuals, including Yuli Daniel, an encounter that would later prove fatal to Marchenko. During his time in prisons and labor camps studied, and began to associate with the dissidents. From May 1968, while still formally in life Alexandrov, was working in Moscow as a leader, the only job available to him, even though doctors have forbidden to do hard manual labor. Initially, a worker on a gang of drilling, and no educational or intellectual background, was radicalized, and has entered the political life after being imprisoned as a young man with invented accusations.

He became famous with his book My witness, an autobiographical text by his recent phrase in Soviet labor camps and prisons, which caused a sensation when it was released in the West in 1969, after having restricted the movement within the Soviet Union as Samizdat. It brought home to readers around the world, including the Soviet Union, the Soviet gulag was not ended with Stalin.

He died in prison at the age of 48 in December of 1986, following a period of three months with a long hunger strike that was the realization release of all prisoners of conscience Soviets. The international spread beyond his death was an important factor: finally it pushed the General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to allow large-scale release of political prisoners in 1987.

Created by Jessica Beccati Martina Vettorato