Biography of Nelson Mandela Trivia Quiz

Answer: Troublemaker

Mandela was born into the Madiba clan in the village of Mvezo in the Eastern Cape. His mother was Nonqaphi Nosekeni and his father was Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela, principal counsellor to the Acting King of the Thembu people, Jongintaba Dalindyebo.

His name "Rolihlahla" in Xhosa means "pulling the branch of a tree", but literally it means "troublemaker".

His father died when he was 12 years old, and he became a ward of Jongintaba at the Great Place in Mqhekezweni.

Answer: His schoolteacher

Nelson grew up with his two sisters in the village of Qunu, where he tended herds. Both his parents were illiterate; however, his mother, a devout Christian, sent him to a local Methodist school when he was seven. His teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave him the name Nelson, in accordance with the custom of giving all schoolchildren "Christian" names.

Answer: Oliver Tambo

At the university, he was studying for a Bachelor of Arts degree. He met Oliver Tambo (1917-1993) at the dormitory who became his close friend. Tambo served as President of African National Congress (ANC) from 1967 to 1991. Mandela did not complete the degree as he was expelled for joining a student protest.

Answer: The king arranged a marriage for him

In 1941, he and his cousin Justice ran away from the arranged marriages to Johannesburg. He worked briefly as a night watchman in a gold mine. He met Walter Sisulu, an active member of the ANC. Sisulu recommended Mandela for employment as an articled clerk at the law firm Witkin, Sidelsky and Eidelmana, and the two become firm friends.

In 1942, Mandela started to attend ANC meetings. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree by correspondence through the University of South Africa. In 1943, he enrolled for an LLB postgraduate law degree at the University of the Witwatersrand. In 1944, he founded the ANC Youth League together with Anton Lembede, Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu.

Answer: Violation of the Communism Act

In 1952, ANC appointed Mandela as the National Volunteer-in-Chief of the Defiance Campaign, to carry out a campaign of civil disobedience against six unjust laws. In July, Mandela and 19 others were accused and arrested under the Suppression of Communism Act. Among the accused was Sisulu, they were sentenced to nine months of hard labour, suspended for two years.

Answer: Not guilty

Mandela and 150 others were arrested. The Treason Trial took place from 1956 to 1961, after which all the defendants were acquitted. The Treason Trial was the South African apartheid government's response to the adoption of Freedom Charter at the Congress of the People in Kliptown on June 26, 1955.

Answer: Spear of the Nation

In December 1961, ANC decided to move from nonviolent to violent means of opposing apartheid. Mandela was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the armed wing Umkhnonto we Sizwe which means "Spear of the Nation". They planned to launch bomb attacks on government targets and for possible guerilla warfare.

Answer: Leaving the country without a permit

Mandela started to operate underground in the face of the government repression. He became a master of disguise and managed to evade arrest with success, which got him the nickname the "Black Pimpernel".

On August 5, 1962, he was on the run for 17 months traveling abroad. He was finally arrested near Howick in Natal, sentenced to five years on Robben Island the notorious political prison off the coast near Cape Town.

On July 11, 1963, while he was in prison, the police arrested prominent ANC leaders at their hideout on Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia, north of Johannesburg. They were charged with sabotage and other crimes in the Rivonia Trial.

Answer: Cape Town

Mandela was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison along with other ANC leaders Walter Sisulu, Andrew Mlangeni, Ahmed Kathrada and Raymond Mhlaba. It was speculated they were moved to remove their influence on a new generation of young black activists imprisoned on Robben Island.

In February 1985, President PW Botha offered to free Mandela on condition that he unconditionally rejected violence as a political weapon.

Answer: 63%

After nearly 28 years of imprisonment, Mandela was finally released from imprisonment, along with other ANC leaders. On February 11, 1990, Mandela walked free from Victor Verster Prison in Cape Town.

In the 1994 general election, ANC secured 252 seats (63% of the votes) out of 400 seats in the General Assembly. The registered votes were 22.7 million. Mandela was appointed as the first black South African president. FW de Klerk's party National Party secured 82 seats, 20.4% of the votes, and was thus eligible for the post of vice president.