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.
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
elderstatesman 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
1964 – Elected Honorary President of the Students' Union,
University of Leeds[2] Tyler Hopper
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
Awarded the "Commonwealth Champion of Health" medal, received by South African athletes at the Commonwealth Games, Canada
1995
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
Created Knight of the
Order of the Elephant by the Danish
Queen Margrethe II, Copenhagen, 18 February. By tradition of the order, the Knight's coat of arms is drawn on a plate and it is hung in the chapel of
Frederiksborg Castle.[31] If one hasn't a coat of arms (as was the case for Mandela), the Court heraldist composes one, with the Knight's cooperation. Mandela eventually chose the
South African flag as his coat of arms to be used for this and other foreign orders. The elephant insignia that he received had previously been worn by Emperor
Haile Selassie of Ethiopia.[32]
Awarded the National Order of
Mali (Grande Croix), Mali's highest decoration,
Bamako, 3 March
Received the Freedom of the City of London, London, 10 July
Created Knight of the
Royal Order of the Seraphim, Stockholm, 3 February.[39] By tradition of the order, the Knight's coat of arms is drawn on a plate and it is kept in the Hall of the Order of the Seraphim at the
Royal Palace of Stockholm. If one hasn't a coat of arms, the Court heraldist composes one, with the Knight's cooperation.[39][40] In this case, the Danish coat of arms was used as a starting point.[41] By tradition,[42] on the day of his funeral (15 December 2013), it was hung in
Riddarholmen Church and the church bells rang constantly from 12:00 to 13:00 as a tribute.[39]
Awarded the Freedom of the City of Lydenburg,
Lydenburg, 3 November
Appointed Honorary Companion of the
Order of Australia, Canberra, 9 June; presented with the insignia by Australian Prime Minister
John Howard in Pretoria on 15 November.[44]
Created a Knight of the Collar of the Spanish
Order of Isabella the Catholic by
King Juan Carlos in 1999. Members of the order at the rank of knight and above enjoy personal
nobility and have the privilege of adding a golden heraldic mantle to their coats of arms. Those at the rank of the Collar also receive the official style of "His or Her Most Excellent Lord".[46]
Created Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Crown of Rwanda[47] by King
Kigeli V in 1999 (personal nobility, the official style "His Excellency").[48]
Zoologists Brent E. Hendrixson and Jason E. Bond named a South African species of trapdoor spider in the family
Ctenizidae as Stasimopus mandelai, "honouring Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa and one of the great moral leaders of our time."[68]
Presented with the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from
Open University. The award was presented to him at his home in Cape Town by Professor
Brenda Gourley The Open University's Vice-Chancellor (2002–2008) and former Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Natal.[69]
Made an honorary member of
Manchester United as the club toured South Africa in the winter of
2006[74]
Conferred an honorary doctorate in government and politics by
Universiti Teknologi Mara, the biggest public university in Malaysia, in recognition of his tireless efforts and triumph in struggling for the people's rights in his country and strengthening their socio-economy.[75]
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
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]
In 2016, a large Bronze statue of Mandela was unveiled in a square in
Ramallah in the
Israeli-occupiedWest 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
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
The UN Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace, an intergovernmental honour.[101]
^article 13, Reglamento de la Orden de Isabel la Católica (1998)
^"Archived copy"(PDF).
Archived(PDF) from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link)
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.
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
elderstatesman 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
1964 – Elected Honorary President of the Students' Union,
University of Leeds[2] Tyler Hopper
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
Awarded the "Commonwealth Champion of Health" medal, received by South African athletes at the Commonwealth Games, Canada
1995
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
Created Knight of the
Order of the Elephant by the Danish
Queen Margrethe II, Copenhagen, 18 February. By tradition of the order, the Knight's coat of arms is drawn on a plate and it is hung in the chapel of
Frederiksborg Castle.[31] If one hasn't a coat of arms (as was the case for Mandela), the Court heraldist composes one, with the Knight's cooperation. Mandela eventually chose the
South African flag as his coat of arms to be used for this and other foreign orders. The elephant insignia that he received had previously been worn by Emperor
Haile Selassie of Ethiopia.[32]
Awarded the National Order of
Mali (Grande Croix), Mali's highest decoration,
Bamako, 3 March
Received the Freedom of the City of London, London, 10 July
Created Knight of the
Royal Order of the Seraphim, Stockholm, 3 February.[39] By tradition of the order, the Knight's coat of arms is drawn on a plate and it is kept in the Hall of the Order of the Seraphim at the
Royal Palace of Stockholm. If one hasn't a coat of arms, the Court heraldist composes one, with the Knight's cooperation.[39][40] In this case, the Danish coat of arms was used as a starting point.[41] By tradition,[42] on the day of his funeral (15 December 2013), it was hung in
Riddarholmen Church and the church bells rang constantly from 12:00 to 13:00 as a tribute.[39]
Awarded the Freedom of the City of Lydenburg,
Lydenburg, 3 November
Appointed Honorary Companion of the
Order of Australia, Canberra, 9 June; presented with the insignia by Australian Prime Minister
John Howard in Pretoria on 15 November.[44]
Created a Knight of the Collar of the Spanish
Order of Isabella the Catholic by
King Juan Carlos in 1999. Members of the order at the rank of knight and above enjoy personal
nobility and have the privilege of adding a golden heraldic mantle to their coats of arms. Those at the rank of the Collar also receive the official style of "His or Her Most Excellent Lord".[46]
Created Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Crown of Rwanda[47] by King
Kigeli V in 1999 (personal nobility, the official style "His Excellency").[48]
Zoologists Brent E. Hendrixson and Jason E. Bond named a South African species of trapdoor spider in the family
Ctenizidae as Stasimopus mandelai, "honouring Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa and one of the great moral leaders of our time."[68]
Presented with the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from
Open University. The award was presented to him at his home in Cape Town by Professor
Brenda Gourley The Open University's Vice-Chancellor (2002–2008) and former Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Natal.[69]
Made an honorary member of
Manchester United as the club toured South Africa in the winter of
2006[74]
Conferred an honorary doctorate in government and politics by
Universiti Teknologi Mara, the biggest public university in Malaysia, in recognition of his tireless efforts and triumph in struggling for the people's rights in his country and strengthening their socio-economy.[75]
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
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]
In 2016, a large Bronze statue of Mandela was unveiled in a square in
Ramallah in the
Israeli-occupiedWest 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
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
The UN Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace, an intergovernmental honour.[101]
^article 13, Reglamento de la Orden de Isabel la Católica (1998)
^"Archived copy"(PDF).
Archived(PDF) from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link)