On 18 July 1998, Nelson Mandela turned 80. That day, in a private ceremony at his home in Johannesburg, he married Graça Machel. Most South Africans heard the news afterwards.
Mandela was then President of South Africa, four years after the end of apartheid. His second marriage, to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, had ended in divorce in 1996, after a long separation. Graça Machel was the widow of Samora Machel, the first president of Mozambique, who had died in a plane crash in 1986 in South African territory.
Graça Machel
Graça Simbine was born in 1945 in Mozambique. She studied in Lisbon, joined the liberation movement FRELIMO and fought for Mozambique’s independence from Portugal, achieved in 1975. She became Mozambique’s first minister of education and culture, and she married Samora Machel in 1975.
After his death, she led international work on children affected by war, including a landmark report for the United Nations on the impact of armed conflict on children, published in 1996.
The relationship
Mandela had written to Graça Machel from prison after Samora Machel’s death to offer condolences. After his release, their friendship grew into a relationship, which became public in the mid-1990s. Mandela spoke openly about his happiness, saying he was in love.
The wedding
The wedding was a small ceremony, officiated by religious leaders from different faiths, with family and close friends present. A large birthday celebration followed later, with guests including celebrities and politicians.
First lady of two countries
With the marriage, Graça Machel became the only woman to have been first lady of two countries, Mozambique and South Africa. She kept her own name and continued her work on children’s rights, education and women’s empowerment.
The later years
Mandela retired from the presidency in 1999. Graça Machel was by his side through his later years and his illness. He died in December 2013, aged 95. She was with him at the end.
She was a founding member of The Elders, the group of former leaders that Mandela helped set up in 2007 to promote peace and human rights, and she continued to lead foundations in Mozambique and South Africa after his death.
What their marriage showed
Their marriage showed that companionship and love can come late in life. Both had experienced loss, public life and long struggles, and they found partnership in their final chapter.
Mandela spent 27 years in prison. He married again at 80, a free man in a free country. It remains one of the most famous late-life marriages in the world.
