1) Nelson Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and philanthropist, who served as a President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. 2) He was influenced by Marxism and therefore secretly joined the South African Communist Party (SACP). 3) Mandela served 27 years in prison, first on Robben Island, and later in Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison, and an international campaign lobbied for his release. Mandela was very controversial figure, and in 1993 he won the Nobel Peace Prize.