Son of a tribal chief, Nelson Mandela became a lawyer and worked tirelessly to free his people. In 1964, he was convicted of trying to overthrow the government and spent the next twenty-six years in jail. At last, in 1990, he was released from prison and resumed his place as the leader of black South Africa's fight for freedom. In April 1994, his admirers around the world cheered as, in the first all-race election, Nelson Mandela became the president of South Africa. Now a statesman of the world, Mandela is truly the world's hero.