Updated On: 06 December, 2013 07:46 AM IST | | PTI
Globally respected as a symbol of resistance against injustice, Nelson Mandela brought an end to the much-despised apartheid regime in South Africa while spreading the spirit of freedom in the rest of Africa.
Incarcerated for 27 years through much of his youth, Mandela became the first-ever elected black president of his country, ushering in multi-racial democracy replacing the whites-only rule.

Nelson Mandela. File pic