tribute
authority, the egregious conditions
in which prisoners dwelt and the
discrimination.
His Methodist education became
clear when Winnie was tried in
court along with other activists.
Mandela wrote her an encouraging
letter where he reported the story
of an inspiring book he had read
previously – Shadows of Nazareth, by
C. J. Langenhoven. Here, the author
describes the trial of Jesus through a
letter of Poncius Pilate himself to a
friend in Rome.
Here we also learn some peculiar
details of Mandela’s life. In 1975,
under the suggestion of Walter
Sisulu and Ahmed Kathrada,
Madiba began to prepare in secret
his autobiography. He wrote little
pieces every night, which would then
be translated by two inmates, who
painstakingly reduced its content,
from six hundred pages to sixty.
This work was buried in prison until
one of the inmates was released and
could finally take the manuscript out
of the country. Nevertheless, their
plot was exposed, and their academic
privileges were suspended for four
years. Even though a good part of
the texts arrived to London, the pu-
blishing of Long Walk to Freedom only
happened in 1994, after Mandela’s
release from prison.
In December 1988, already after
being hospitalized due to tubercu-
losis, he was transferred to Victor
Verster prison, being lodged in an
old house for prison guards, enjoying
modern commodities. Around that
time he finished his Law degree –
forty-five years after starting it – at
the University of Witwaterstand.
In a speech to the nation in early
February 1990 by then president F.
W. de Klerk, it was finally annou-
nced Nelson Mandela’s release,
which happened around 4:30 PM of
February 11. He wrote his last letter
in that same morning.
wherever , whenever
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