Nelson Mandela signed photographA Nelson Mandela autograph on photo, taken during his historic first state visit to Britain in 1996 Discover more about this item here Nelson Mandela (1918 2013) was a South African politician, anti apartheid revolutionary and philanthropist, who spent his life battling racial injustice. He spent 27 years in prison for fighting apartheid and opposing the South African government, and was initially labelled a terrorist by some Western governments.