By Tosin Olakotan
- A snapshot of the webpage…
A digital archive has been launched by Google for proper documentation on former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela, with more than 1900 pictures, films and documentary on Madiba, (Nelson Mandela clan name) and over 2,000 entries available for scholars and researchers.
Images of the cell on Robben Island, near Cape Town, in which he spent many of his 27 years in jail, are among the material stored on the archive.
The plan was announced a year ago with $1.25m (£790,000) in funds from internet giant Google.
It also includes thousands of handwritten documents such as Church membership cards from 1929, notes on political negotiations, and what appears to be a draft of a 1995 letter to a young admirer about Valentine’s Day.
‘We believe in the power of digital technologies in bringing the legacy of Madiba to the masses’.
Ndileka Mandela, Mandela’s granddaughter praised the initiative. ‘I think it’s just awesome’, she told The Guardian.co.uk.
Born in Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1918 to Chief Henry Mandela of the Tembu Tribe, Mandela attended the University College of Fort Hare and studied Law at the University of Witwatersrand. He joined the African National Congress in 1944 and was engaged in resistance against the ruling National Party’s apartheid policies after 1948. He went on trial for treason in 1956-1961 and was finally convicted in 1961.
Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s first black president in 1994 after winning 252 of the 400 seats in the democratic election.
He is now described as a living legend in Africa’s democratic history.
