7 Nelson Mandela 7

under President F.W. de Klerk released Mandela from

prison on Feb. 11, 1990. On March 2 Mandela was chosen

deputy president of the ANC, the president, Tambo,

being ill, and he replaced Tambo as president in July 1991.

Mandela and de Klerk worked to end apartheid and bring

about a peaceful transition to nonracial democracy in

South Africa. In 1993 they were awarded the Nobel Peace

Prize for their efforts.

In April 1994 South Africa held its first all-race elec-

tions, which were won by Mandela and the ANC. As

president, he established the Truth and Reconciliation

Commission (TRC), which investigated human rights vio-

lations under apartheid, and introduced housing, education,

and economic development initiatives designed to improve

the living standards of the country’s black population. In

1996 he oversaw the enactment of a new democratic con-

stitution. The following year Mandela resigned his post

with the ANC and in 1999 did not seek a second term as

South African president. After leaving office in June, he

retired from active politics.

anWar el-sa ̄ da ̄ t

(b. Dec. 25, 1918, Mit Abū al-Kawm, Al-Minūfiyyah governorate,

Egypt—d. Oct. 6, 1981, Cairo)

E

gyptian army officer and politician Anwar el-Sādāt

was president of Egypt from 1970 until his assassina-

tion in 1981. He initiated serious peace negotiations with

Israel, an achievement for which he shared the 1978 Nobel

Peace Prize with Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin.

Under their leadership, Egypt and Israel made peace with

each other in 1979.

Muh·ammad Anwar el-Sādāt graduated from the Cairo

Military Academy in 1938. During World War II he