List of awards and honours received by Nelson Mandela

This is a comprehensive list of awards, honours and other recognitions bestowed on Nelson Mandela. Mandela received more than 260 awards over 40 years, most notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

Nelson Mandela
Born
Rolihlahla Mandela

(1918-07-18)18 July 1918
Died5 December 2013(2013-12-05) (aged 95)
Johannesburg, South Africa
Resting placeQunu, Eastern Cape
31°48′17.15″S 28°36′48.7″E / 31.8047639°S 28.613528°E / -31.8047639; 28.613528
NationalitySouth African
Known forAnti-Apartheid Movement
Notable workLong Walk to Freedom
Political partyAfrican National Congress
Websitewww.nelsonmandela.org

From 1994 to 1999, Mandela was President of South Africa. He was the first such African to be elected in fully representative democratic polls.

Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist and leader of the African National Congress and its armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe. He spent 27 years in prison, much of it in a cell on Robben Island. The rest of his incarceration was in Pollsmoor Prison, on convictions for crimes that included sabotage committed while he spearheaded the struggle against apartheid.

Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, his advocacy of a policy of reconciliation and negotiation helped lead the transition to multi-racial democracy in South Africa. Since the end of apartheid, he was widely praised, even by former opponents.

Mandela died on 5 December 2013, a celebrated elder statesman who continued to voice his opinion on topical issues. In South Africa he is often known as Madiba, an aristocratic title adopted by the elderly members of the royal clan that he belongs to. This title has come to be synonymous with Nelson Mandela.

1960s edit

1970s edit

1981 edit

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1986 edit

Street sign in Glasgow, Scotland

1987 edit

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1990 edit

Bharat Ratna, awarded 1990

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1992 edit

1993 edit

Bill Clinton presented Mandela with the Philadelphia Liberty Medal on 4 July 1993

1994 edit

  • Received the New Nation/Engen Man of the Year Flame of Distinction award, 24 March
  • Elected Newsmaker of the Year, with Deputy President F W de Klerk, by the Johannesburg Press Club, 25 May. Prof Kader Asmal received the award on 29 September
  • Received the Hunger Project's 8th annual Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger, London, 19 July
  • Received Anne Frank medal for human rights and tolerance, Johannesburg, 15 August
  • Received Sheikh Yusuf Peace Award from the Muslim Women's Federation, 10 September
  • Received the Arthur A Houghton Star Crystal Award for Excellence from the African-American Institute, 6 October
  • Received Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award from Africare, 6 October
  • Honorary Doctorate, Howard University, 7 October
  • Received freedom of the town of Tongaat, KwaZulu-Natal, 21 October (initially granted in 1989)
  • Received the Olympic Gold Order from International Olympic Committee president, Juan Antonio Samaranch, Cape Town, 16 November
  • Received Man of the Year Award from the Greek Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Southern Africa, Johannesburg, 19 November 1994
  • Received the Grand'Croix degree of the National Order of the Legion of Honour of France, Paris, 28 December
  • Honorary Doctorate awarded by University of South Africa
  • Awarded the "Commonwealth Champion of Health" medal, received by South African athletes at the Commonwealth Games, Canada

1995 edit

  • Africa Peace Award – sponsored jointly by the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) – presented at a ceremony in Durban, March
  • Appointed an honorary member of the Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth II
  • "Nelson Mandela Road" to Katse, Lesotho, inaugurated, 13 July
  • Received Pretoria Press Club's 1994 Newsmaker of the Year Award, Pretoria, 20 July
  • Granted the Freedom of Uitenhage, 14 September
  • Awarded Honorary Fellowship of the College of Medicine of South Africa, Johannesburg, 17 October
  • Harvard Business School Statesman of the Year Award, 14 December
  • Human Rights Institute, with President Mandela as honorary chairman, launched in London by the International Bar Association, December 1995
  • The Wolf Award, presented in South Africa by Canadian aboriginal leaders Phil Fontaine and George Muswagon

1996 edit

1997 edit

Nelson Mandela's former house in Soweto, Johannesburg, now Mandela Family Museum.

1998 edit

1999 edit

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2001 edit

2002 edit

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2004 edit

Order of St John of Jerusalem Badge

2005 edit

2006 edit

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2010 edit

2012 edit

  • Received the Canadian version of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal[91]
  • Received the Robben Island Alumnus Award in recognition of being a UNISA Robben Island Alumnus who has sacrificed so much for the liberation of South Africa.[92]

2013 edit

  • On 10 December 2013, the amphitheatre of the Union Buildings in Pretoria was renamed the Nelson Mandela Amphitheatre.[93]
  • On 16 December 2013, a 9-metre-high (30 ft) bronze statue of Mandela was unveiled at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.[94]

2014 edit

2015 edit

2016 edit

  • In 2016, a large Bronze statue of Mandela was unveiled in a square in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank to honor his support to the Palestinians, where huge posters were installed with Mandela's statement: "We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians."[98]

2018 edit

On 24 September 2018, Heads of State and Government and representatives of States and Governments, met at United Nations Headquarters in New York, at the "Nelson Mandela Peace Summit" to reflect on global peace, in honour of the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela and to collectively hold themselves accountable to the values and principles of the declaration drafted and agreed upon at the summit, to strive for a just, peaceful, prosperous, democratic, fair, equitable and inclusive world. The world leaders called upon their people to celebrate the richness of our diversity and the collective creativity and wisdom of our elders, and the well-being and survival of Mother Earth, and called upon their youth, artists, sports personalities, musicians and poets to breathe new life into the values and principles of the United Nations and recognize the period from 2019 to 2028 as the Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace. [99] [100]

2019 to 2028 edit

The UN Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace, an intergovernmental honour.[101]

Summary of orders received edit

OrderCountry / OrgYear
Star of People's Friendship  East Germany1984
Order of Playa Girón  Cuba1984
Bharat Ratna  India1990
Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic  Nigeria1990
Order of the Uhuru Torch (Second Class)[102]  Tanzania1990
Order of Agostinho Neto  Angola1990
Nishan-e-Pakistan  Pakistan1992
Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon  ROC1993
National Order of the Legion of Honour (Grand Cross)  France1994
Honorary member of the Order of Merit 1995
Knight of the Order of the Elephant  Denmark1996
Grand Cross of the National Order of Mali  Mali1996
Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim  Sweden1997
Honorary Companion of the Order of Canada  Canada1998
Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav  Norway1998
Knight Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic  Spain1999
Knight of the Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau  Luxembourg1999
First Class of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise  Ukraine1999
Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia  Australia1999
Order of Islamic Republic  Iran2001
Presidential Medal of Freedom  United States2002
Order of Mapungubwe – Platinum Category  South Africa2002
Bailiff Grand Cross of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem 2004
First Class Order of the Balkan Mountains[83]  Bulgaria2008
Order of the Aztec Eagle  Mexico2010
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (Canadian version)  Canada2012
Service Medal in Bronze  South Africa1996
Service Medal in Silver  South Africa1996
Service Medal in Gold  South Africa1996
Unitas Medal  South Africa1994
Star for Bravery in Gold (SBG)  South Africa1996
Star for Bravery in Silver (SBS)  South Africa1996
Conspicuous Leadership Star (CLS)  South Africa1996
Decoration for Merit in Gold (DMG)  South Africa1996
Merit Medal in Silver (MMS)  South Africa1996
Merit Medal in Bronze (MMB)  South Africa1996

Coat of arms edit

References edit