Evelyn Mase

Evelyn Mase was a South African nurse and the first wife of anti-apartheid revolutionary and future president Nelson Mandela. Their marriage, which coincided with Mandela's early political career with the African National Congress, dissolved under the strain of his increasing activism and her deepening religious commitment. Mase lived a largely private life thereafter, remarrying and working as a nurse, and is remembered as a foundational figure in the personal history of one of the 20th century's most iconic leaders.

Early life and family

Evelyn Mase was born in the village of Engcobo in the Transkei region, part of the then Union of South Africa. She was orphaned at a young age and was raised by her uncle, Walter Sisulu, a prominent anti-apartheid activist who would become a lifelong friend and colleague of her future husband. After completing her education, Mase moved to Johannesburg to train as a nurse at the Non-European Hospital in Hillbrow, demonstrating an early commitment to healthcare in a society structured by racial segregation. Her family connections through the Sisulu family placed her within the heart of the emerging political opposition to the National Party government's policies.

Marriage to Nelson Mandela

Mase met the young law student and ANC Youth League member Nelson Mandela through their mutual connection to Walter Sisulu in 1944. They married later that year in a ceremony at the Native Affairs Department building in Johannesburg, with Sisulu serving as best man. The couple initially lived in the Orlando township of Soweto, where Mandela opened his law practice with Oliver Tambo. They had four children: Thembekile (who died in a car accident in 1969), Makgatho Mandela, Makaziwe Mandela (their first daughter died in infancy), and a second daughter also named Makaziwe Mandela. During this period, Mase worked as a nurse, providing financial stability while Mandela pursued his legal career and deepening involvement with the African National Congress.

Life during Mandela's activism and imprisonment

The marriage came under severe strain in the 1950s as Mandela's political commitments intensified, particularly following the adoption of the Freedom Charter and his pivotal role in the Defiance Campaign and the Treason Trial. Mase, who had become a devoted member of the Jehovah's Witnesses, grew increasingly opposed to her husband's political activities, which conflicted with her religious pacifism and desire for a conventional family life. The final separation occurred around 1955, and their divorce was finalized in 1958, shortly before Mandela's marriage to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Following Mandela's imprisonment after the Rivonia Trial, Mase raised their surviving children largely out of the public eye, maintaining a distance from the political struggles centered on Robben Island and the international Anti-Apartheid Movement.

Later life and death

After her divorce from Mandela, Evelyn Mase continued her nursing career and lived a quiet, private life. She remarried in 1998 to a retired businessman, Simon Rakeepile, who predeceased her in 2001. She maintained limited contact with the Mandela family in later years but was notably absent from the public celebrations surrounding his release from prison in 1990 and his subsequent election as President of South Africa. Mase died of respiratory disease in Johannesburg on 30 April 2004. Her funeral was attended by several members of the extended Mandela and Sisulu families, and she was buried in her hometown of Engcobo, remembered as a private individual who experienced the personal costs of South Africa's turbulent political history.

Category:1922 births Category:2004 deaths Category:South African nurses Category:Former spouses of South African politicians