BBC News Online looks back at some of the key events in Nelson Mandela's turbulent life and career:

Campaigners press for Mr Mandela's release

• Born in 1918 in South Africa's Eastern Cape, son of a tribal chief.

• Formed the Youth League of the African National Congress with close friends, Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu, in 1944.

• Charged with high treason along with 155 other political activists in 1956, eventually acquitted five years later.
• Formed the underground ANC military wing after it was outlawed following the 1960 Sharpeville massacre.

Freedom: On release from prison

• Captured by police after more than a year on the run, convicted of sabotage and treason in June 1964 and sentenced to life in prison, initially on Robben Island.

• Winnie Mandela, whom he married in 1958, spearheads an international campaign calling for his release.

• Freed from jail in 1990 after 27 years of imprisonment.

Winning the rugby - a symbolic achievement

• Emerged as president after a landslide win in South Africa's first multi-racial elections in 1994.

• Marriage to Winnie ended when she was convicted on charges of kidnapping and accessory to assault.

Thabo Mbeki: Chosen successor

• South Africa wins the Rugby Union World Cup in 1995, and Nelson Mandela is publicly presented with a team jersey from the South African captain, symbolising a mood of unity between black and white.

• After a landslide ANC win in elections in June 1999, Nelson Mandela makes way for his successor as South African President, Thabo Mbeki, who was nominated ANC president in 1997.