Nelson Mandela Madiba
'Good Bye Beautiful Soul ' ~ !
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'The works of Shakespeare, annotated by inmates at Robben Island Prison, South Africa.
I first heard about a copy of the complete works of William
Shakespeare known as the ‘Robben Island Bible’ when a good friend was
reading Anthony Sampson’s wonderful biography on Nelson Mandela in 2002.
I was fascinated by the story and found online the subsequent article
that Sampson wrote ‘O, what men dare do’ in the Observer from 2001:
' Julius Caesar was the favourite, and Mandela chose Caesar's own
fateful words, which he underlined with his signature and dated 16
December 1977:
Cowards die many times before their deaths
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.
Mandela continued to reach back to Shakespeare after he was freed
and later became President of South Africa. And the fascination with the
Bard remained with the next black generation.
Thabo Mbeki, the current
President of South Africa, became enthralled by Shakespeare when he was
at Sussex University, and has ever since quoted him at every
opportunity.
When Mandela celebrated his eightieth birthday in 1998,
before stepping down as President, Mbeki made a speech speculating about
how he would retire to the country, quoting from King Lear:
To tell old tales, and laugh
At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues
Talk of court news
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