Born in 1918, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela's greatest legacy will be his commitment to reconciliation as the first post-apartheid president of South Africa. Raised to become a Thembu chief, Mandela was a college student when he started working to overturn apartheid, the legal separation of races. As a young Johannesburg lawyer in the 1950s, he organized a black underground. He was arrested and convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the government and sentenced to life in prison. During 27 years in jail, he became a worldwide symbol for justice. After his release in 1990, he helped negotiate the end of apartheid, shared the Nobel Peace Prize with F.W. de Klerk, and at age 75, succeeded de Klerk as president, becoming his country's first leader chosen in an all-race election. Never seeking revenge, Mandela consulted his former captors as he rebuilt South African society. When he left office in 1999, crime and poverty still plagued South Africa, but Mandela had seen the country through an extraordinary transition.