Historical Organization
Robben Island Prison
Robben Island Prison
Details
Organization Timeline
Mandela is transferred to Robben Island
đź“… 27 May 1963Mandela was transferred from Pretoria to Robben Island to serve his five-year sentence. The prison regime used isolation, hard labor, censorship, and limited contact with family and political...
Mandela and seven others are sentenced to life imprisonment
đź“… 12 June 1964Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Ahmed Kathrada, Denis Goldberg, Raymond Mhlaba, Elias Motsoaledi, and Andrew Mlangeni were sentenced to life. The court sent the seven Black defendants to Robben...
Mandela arrives on Robben Island as prisoner 466/64
đź“… 13 June 1964Mandela arrived on Robben Island the day after the life sentences. The Foundation timeline records this arrival on 13 June, while its detailed chronology records the sentencing and transfer on 12...
Mandela writes to Robben Island’s commanding officer
đź“… 12 September 1964A scholarly study of press access to Robben Island cites a letter Mandela addressed to the commanding officer on 12 September 1964. The record places him in early administrative correspondence with...
Mandela writes to the Commissioner of Prisons
đź“… 14 March 1965The archival record dates a letter to the Commissioner of Prisons to 14 March 1965. Mandela used formal correspondence to contest the administration of political imprisonment and advocate for...
Mandela’s mother Nosekeni dies while he is imprisoned
📅 24 September 1968Nonqaphi Nosekeni died while Mandela was serving his life sentence on Robben Island. Prison authorities refused him permission to attend her funeral. The state’s control over visits and movement...
Mandela asks for release or political-prisoner treatment
đź“… 22 April 1969Writing from Robben Island on behalf of colleagues, Mandela asked the Minister of Justice either to release imprisoned political activists or to grant them treatment due to political prisoners. The...
Mandela writes to his daughters after Winnie is detained
đź“… 23 June 1969Mandela wrote to Zenani and Zindzi after their mother, Winnie, was detained. He tried to comfort the girls while explaining that both parents might be absent for a long time. The letter captures the...
Mandela’s son Thembekile dies in a car accident
📅 13 July 1969Mandela’s eldest son, Thembekile (“Thembi”), died in a car accident. The prison authorities denied Mandela permission to attend the funeral. He was left to grieve and support family members through...
Mandela begins addressing Winnie as “Dade wethu” in letters
📅 11 November 1969In his first letter using the Sesotho address “Dade wethu” (“our sister”), Mandela wrote to Winnie while she was imprisoned in Pretoria. He reframed their relationship in the language of shared...
Mandela writes to Winnie during her imprisonment
📅 1 January 1970Mandela’s New Year’s Day letter to Winnie combined family concerns with moral and political reflection while she was imprisoned. He offered reassurance and responded to her illness and isolation. Both...
Mandela writes to his sister and daughters about family life
đź“… 1 June 1970Mandela wrote to his sister Leabie and to daughters Zenani and Zindzi on the same day. He discussed schooling, family arrangements, and the loneliness his daughters experienced during school holidays....
Mandela writes to Winnie, also a prisoner
đź“… 20 June 1970Mandela wrote to Winnie while she remained incarcerated. The letter addressed separation, family matters, and her health, combining emotional support with political resolve. A Foundation archive...
Mandela sends Winnie a letter of encouragement
đź“… 1 August 1970A letter dated 1 August records Mandela encouraging Winnie during her imprisonment and urging her to retain hope. The message came after a period in which she had been detained and isolated from their...
Mandela responds to Winnie’s correspondence
đź“… 31 August 1970Mandela wrote back to Winnie after receiving a letter from her dated 2 July. The archive notes that her message lifted his spirits. This exchange makes visible how communication was rationed and...
Mandela writes to the Justice Minister about Winnie’s health
📅 17 September 1970Mandela wrote to the Minister of Justice about Winnie’s poor health and family matters. She had been imprisoned since May 1969, and her long detention separated her from the children. The letter shows...
Mandela welcomes Winnie’s release in a letter
📅 1 October 1970After Winnie’s release from prison, Mandela wrote to her welcoming the news and calling the moment a respite. Her release ended more than a year of imprisonment but not the restrictions and...
Mandela writes to daughter Zenani on her birthday
📅 1 March 1971Mandela wrote to Zenani (“Zeni”) for her birthday from Robben Island. He had spent years unable to share ordinary family milestones in person, and letters were subject to censorship and sometimes...
Mandela writes about Winnie’s promised visit
đź“… 1 October 1975In a letter dated 1 October, Mandela recalled that Winnie had promised a visit for their daughter Zenani after visiting him earlier in the year. He acknowledged that travel might be unaffordable after...
The Soweto uprising begins while Mandela is imprisoned
📅 16 June 1976Students in Soweto protested the apartheid government’s imposition of Afrikaans as a language of instruction, and police violence turned the demonstration into a nationwide uprising. Mandela was on...
Mandela protests abuse of authority on Robben Island
đź“… 12 July 1976Mandela wrote a 22-page letter to the Commissioner of Prisons alleging abuse of authority, political persecution, and irregularities by the commanding officer and staff. The letter was a documented...
Prison authorities refuse Mandela permission to instruct lawyers
đź“… 7 October 1976Mandela later recorded that he asked the Robben Island commanding officer for permission to instruct lawyers to begin legal proceedings against the Department of Prisons. The request was refused on...
Mandela writes about censored and undelivered letters
đź“… 26 October 1976Mandela wrote to Winnie that he felt sad because letters he sent were not reaching her. The prison correspondence archive preserves the short dated note. It exposes censorship not as an abstraction...
Mandela reflects on visits and letters from family
📅 27 March 1977Mandela wrote about the visits and letters he had received, counting them as a “harvest” that helped make life on the island more bearable. His tally also shows the strict rationing of contact: even a...
Mandela writes to Zindzi about the pain of missed letters
đź“… 4 September 1977Mandela wrote to his daughter Zindzi, acknowledging her disappointment with his brief letters and explaining that he too felt the hurt of receiving little or no mail from people he loved. The exchange...
Mandela writes about delays in correspondence with Winnie
đź“… 26 May 1978Mandela wrote to Winnie after more than a month without receiving a letter. He wondered whether she had written but prison correspondence bottlenecks had prevented delivery. Their exchange makes the...
Mandela writes about the family that sustains him
📅 31 December 1978In a year-end letter, Mandela described the importance of his family’s visits, letters, birthday cards, and Christmas cards in helping him endure imprisonment. The passage names relatives as active...
Mandela records Winnie’s visits and letters
📅 21 January 1979Mandela wrote that Winnie’s visits and letters brought him love and good wishes, helping him meet the loneliness and aging of prison life. His letter records the emotional force of family contact...
Mandela writes to his daughter Makaziwe about her letters
📅 2 September 1979Mandela wrote to Makaziwe (“Maki”), noting how many letters he had received from her and asking her to continue writing. He compared the number favorably with the very few letters he had received in...
An acting Paramount Chief visits Mandela in prison
📅 15 September 1979Mandela’s prison diary records a visit by Acting Paramount Chief Bambilanga lasting an hour and a half. The diary makes a rare day-level record of visits and ordinary routines, details largely missing...
Mandela counts visits and letters in his family correspondence
📅 27 January 1980Mandela’s letter to Winnie reviewed the previous year’s visits and letters and expressed gratitude for the family’s efforts to see and write to him. He described how illness and police requests had...
Mandela writes about his daughters and family support
đź“… 1 March 1981Mandela wrote about his children and the visits, letters, and cards that helped him endure prison life. The family correspondence records relationships maintained across years of separation and...
An International Committee of the Red Cross delegation visits Mandela
📅 6 September 1981Mandela’s prison diary records a visit from an International Committee of the Red Cross delegation. The visit was part of a longer effort by humanitarian organizations to inspect conditions and...
Govan Mbeki is released from Robben Island
📅 5 November 1987ANC leader and Rivonia Trial co-accused Govan Mbeki was released after more than two decades in prison. Mandela remained incarcerated, but Mbeki’s release reflected the growing pressure on the...