December 6, 2013

The world mourns Mandela

South African leader and anit-aparthied hero Nelson Mandela died December 5 at the age of 95. Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years for fighting against apartheid and upon his release in 1990, continued to strive for peace and reconciliation as president of ANC and South African president in 1994. The country and the world mourns his death and celebrates his life. -Leanne Burden Seidel ( 34 photos total)

Flowers left by mourners surround a portrait of Nelson Mandela in the Sandton district of Johannesburg on Dec. 6. Mandela, the revered icon of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and one of the towering political figures of the 20th century, died on Dec. 5 aged 95. Mandela, who was elected South Africa's first black president after spending nearly three decades in prison, had been receiving treatment for a lung infection at his Johannesburg home since September, after three months in hospital in a critical state. (Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images)

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South African children hold placards showing the face of Nelson Mandela as they celebrate his life, in the street outside his old house in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, on Dec. 6. Flags were lowered to half-staff and people in black townships, in upscale mostly white suburbs and in South Africa's vast rural grasslands commemorated Nelson Mandela with song, tears and prayers while pledging to adhere to the values of unity and democracy that he embodied. (Ben Curtis/Associated Press) #

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A girl holds a South African national flag as people mourn the death of former President Nelson Mandela outside Cape Town City Hall, where Mandela made his first speech after his release from his 27-year incarceration, on Dec. 6. (Mike Hutchings/Reuters) #

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ANC supporters pray in front of the courthouse of Johannesburg, on Dec. 28, 1956, to support 152 anti-apartheid militants, including Nelson Mandela, during their trial. (AFP/Getty Images) #

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People comfort each other outside the residence of former South African President Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg on Dec. 6. (Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters) #

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A young girl lays flowers in memory of Nelson Mandela in the Sandton district of Johannesburg on Dec. 6. (Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Workmen unfurl a giant banner with a photo of the late South African President Nelson Mandela to cover the facade of the Quai d'Orsay Foreign Affairs Ministry in Paris, on Dec. 6. (Charles Platiau/Reuters) #

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Nelson Mandela, leaves the Pretoria synagogue, being used as a court, at the end of the day's proceedings in 1958 during his first treason trial. He and other defendants were acquitted on 1961 after a four and half year trial. The South Africa government said on Nov. 21 that it will not send the black leader back to prison when he completes his hospital stay but keep him under close guard at an unspecified location. (Associated Press) #

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South Africans hold pictures of former South African president Nelson Mandela as they pay tribute following his death in Johannesburg on Dec. 6. (Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A picture of South African leader Nelson Mandela is taped to a wall beneath the Apollo Theatre marquee, on Dec. 5, in the Harlem neighborhood of New York. (John Minchillo/Associated Press) #

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Eight men, among them anti-apartheid leader and African National Congress (ANC) member Nelson Mandela, sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia trial leave the Palace of Justice in Pretoria with their fists raised in defiance through the barred windows of the prison car on June 16, 1964. The eight men were accused of conspiracy, sabotage and treason. (AFP/Getty Images) #

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A woman holding a candle and a rose cries outside the house of former South African president Nelson Mandela following his death in Johannesburg on Dec. 5. (Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images) #

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The UN Security Council observes a minute of silence upon the news of the death of former South African President Nelson Mandela, in New York on Dec. 5. UN leader Ban Ki-moon hailed Nelson Mandela as a "giant for justice" who had also left his mark with a profound sense of human decency. (Eskinder Debebe/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Schoolchildren hold candles and portraits of former South African President Nelson Mandela during a prayer ceremony at a school in the southern Indian city of Chennai on Dec. 6. (Babu/Reuters) #

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A man washes a 'Free Mandela' slogan off the side of King's College Chapel, Cambridge, UK. (Peter Dunne/Getty Images) #

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A well-wisher writes a message on a poster of Nelson Mandela on which he and others have written their messages of condolence and support, in the street outside his old house in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa on Dec. 6. (Ben Curtis/Associated Press) #

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Nelson Mandela, accompanied by his wife Winnie, walks out of the Victor Verster prison, near Cape Town, after spending 27 years in apartheid jails on Feb. 11, 1990. (Juda Ngwenya/Files/Reuters) #

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Keaton Anderson, 10, poses for a photograph for his father Dijon Anderson, of Bowie, Md., as they visit the statue of Nelson Mandela at the South African Embassy in Washington, which is currently under renovation, on Dec. 5. (Charles Dharapak/Associated Press) #

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Mourners sing and dance to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela, in the street outside his old house in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, on Dec. 6. (Ben Curtis/Associated Press) #

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An Iranian official of the South African embassy to Iran talks on her mobile phone as flowers a and condolence messages are seen at the gate of the South Africa embassy in Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 6. (Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA) #

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ANC president Nelson Mandela is surrounded by young supporters after addressing residents at Phola Park, a squatter settlement east of Johannesburg, on May 31, 1992. (Walter Dhladhla/AFP/Getty Images) #

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People look at floral tributes placed on a sculpture of Nelson Mandela next to The Royal Festival Hall on Dec. 6, in London, England. Mandela was a leader that helped conquer apartheid in racially divided South Africa after being jailed for his activism for decades. He was South Africa's first black president. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) #

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People release paper lanterns after lighting them outside Madiba, a restaurant named in honor of former South African President Nelson Mandela, in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Dec. 5. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters) #

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College students put flowers before a photo of Nelson Mandela to pay tribute to him on their campus in Hengyang, central China's Hunan province on Dec. 6. The death of South Africa's liberation leader Nelson Mandela has unleashed a chorus of awed respect from across the worlds of politics, religion, sport and culture. (AFP/Getty Images) #

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A businessman has his shoes shined while reading a newspaper featuring news of the death of South African leader Nelson Mandela, on Dec. 6, in New York. (John Minchillo/Associated Press) #

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A mourner sings the South African National anthem and hymn Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrica during a mass at St. Georges Cathedral in Capetown on Dec. 6. (Jennifer Bruce/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A young girl with a placard showing the face of Nelson Mandela and referring to his clan name "Madiba," marches with others to celebrate his life, in the street outside his old house in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, on Dec. 6. (Ben Curtis/Associated Press) #

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African National Congress (ANC) president Nelson Mandela salutes the crowd, on Feb. 24, 1994, as he enters Roodepan township in Kimberley during an electoral meeting. South Africans will vote on April 27, 1994 in the country's first democratic and multiracial general elections. (Guy Tillim/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A man wears key-rings showing the face of Nelson Mandela taped to his ears to mimic earrings as he and others celebrate his life, in the street outside his old house in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa on Dec. 6. (Ben Curtis/Associated Press) #

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A long line of people wait outside the polling station in the black township of Soweto, in the southwest suburbs of Johannesburg, to vote in South Africa's first all-race elections on April 27, 1994. Nelson Mandela, who became one of the world's most beloved statesmen and a colossus of the 20th century when he emerged from 27 years in prison to negotiate an end to white minority rule in South Africa, died at 95 years of age on Dec. 5. South African President Jacob Zuma made the announcement at a news conference late on Dec. 5, 2013, saying "we've lost our greatest son." (Denis Farrell/Associated Press/File) #

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People take pictures with their phones of a statuette of former South African President Nelson Mandela with a sign in front of it reading in Italian "Ciao Madiba" (Goodbye Madiba), referring to Mandela's clan name, displayed amongst other statuettes of famous personalities in the shop of an artisan of nativity scenes, in Naples' San Gregorio Armeno street, Italy, on Dec. 6. (Salvatore Laporta/Associated Press) #

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A woman pays tribute to Nelson Mandela outside the South African embassy near Trafalgar Square on Dec. 6, in London, England. (Oli Scarff/Getty Images) #

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Former South African President Nelson Mandela, who turned 89 years old on July 18, 2007, laughs while celebrating his birthday with children at the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund in Johannesburg on July 24, 2007. (Denis Farrell/Associated Press/File) #

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A woman holds a poster outside the house of former South African President Nelson Mandela after news of his death in Houghton, Dec. 6. Mandela was hailed as a "hero of our time" as tributes poured in from world leaders on the death of the man who led the triumphant fight against apartheid in South Africa and became that country's first black president. (Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters) #