Born in obscurity and relative poverty, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela became the first president of South Africa elected by a fully representative democratic vote. One of the greatest leaders of the 20th century, the man affectionately known as "Madiba" (an honorary title bestowed by elders of his clan), is a leader whose trail is marked by humor, suffering, and the gift of forgiveness - rather than a thirst for revenge. Imprisoned for 27 years during his struggle to end the apartheid state in South Africa, he was the Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Martin Luther King Jr. of his country. "Nelson Mandela" focuses on his efforts to end the segregation that paralyzed his country, efforts that resulted in his being awarded the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, along with South Africa's previous president, Frederik Willem de Klerk, "for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa."