5. Nelson Mandela [South Africa]
A lawyer by profession Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela joined the ANC in the late 1940s, co-founded its Youth League and before being appointed President of the ANC’s Transvaal branch.
He was sentenced to life in prison in 1962 for conspiring against the state after his militant group Umkhonto we Sizwe, launched a sabotage campaign against the government but was freed in 1990 after serving 27 years.
In 1994 Mandela became the first black President of South Africa after winning a multiracial general election. A true statesman, he only served one term before handing over the reins to Thabo Mbeki.