On Dec. 5, 2013, the world lost Nelson Mandela, one of the greatest men and civil rights leaders of all time.

Nelson, born July 18, 1918 in South Africa, became a ward of Jongintaba in Mqhekezweni at the age of twelve after his father passed away according to nelsonmandela.org. It was here that he got the name Nelson. He started joining social movements and protests in college, eventually leading to his expulsion.

In 1962, Mandela was arrested and sent to jail for more than twenty years. While there, he was subject to beatings and other forms of abuse. After his release he continued to advocate for civil liberty and equality.

Along with leading the civil rights movement, he also became the President of South Africa in 1994 and served till 1999.

His voice was instrumental in the changing of the power between apartheid and the new regime. Apartheid were a series of laws and restrictions similar to that of the Jim Crow laws in the U.S. They restricted many things that non-white Africans were allowed to do. By the time it was clear that the Apartheid government would not be able to maintain power, they negotiated rather than let the situation escalate to violence.

Mandela’s name is spoken in reverence across the world. His sacrifice and achievements are spoken with the same breath of the acts of Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Ghandi. The world was better for him and the world is most indeed sadder without him.