Nelson Mandela married Graça Machel on his 80th birthday, 18 July 1998, in a private ceremony at his Johannesburg home, while he was still President of South Africa. Almost nobody outside the family knew it was happening until it was done.
A letter from prison
Graça Simbine had been Mozambique’s first minister of education after independence and was the widow of Samora Machel, Mozambique’s first president, who died in a plane crash in 1986. Mandela, then still a prisoner, wrote to her to offer his condolences. After his release in 1990 their friendship grew into a relationship, which became public in the mid-1990s.
The birthday wedding
The wedding on 18 July 1998 was small and private. It was Mandela’s third marriage, after Evelyn Mase and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Graça became the only woman to have been first lady of two countries, and she kept her own name and her own work, including campaigns for children’s rights.
Fifteen years together
After Mandela left office in 1999 the couple spent time between South Africa and Mozambique. Graça was at his side when he died in December 2013, aged 95. She has continued her work through the Graça Machel Trust.
