• Prison time:
    Mandela was a prisoner at Robben Island Prison for 18 years.  At first, he lived in a damp cell measuring only 2.4 meters by 2.1 meters, sleeping on a straw mat on the concrete floor.  Working in a limestone mine at the prison, he damaged his eyesight.  However, he continued studying at night for a course with the University of London.  He also studied Afrikaans, the language of his prison guards.  In 1982, Mandela was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison, near Cape Town.  The conditions were better there and he was allowed to build a rooftop garden.  After being transferred again, Mandela was released in 1990.