Whose leadership helped end apartheid?

Nelson Mandela was the central figure in the fight against apartheid, South Africa system of racial segregation. Imprisoned for 27 years for his resistance, he became a global symbol of the struggle for justice. After his release in 1990, he helped negotiate a peaceful transition to democracy, and in 1994 he was elected South Africa first Black president in its first fully democratic election. He shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize and championed reconciliation over revenge.