Carnegie Corporation of New York joins South Africa and the world in mourning the death of former South African President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela. Mandela helped bring apartheid to an end “without civil war, without revenge, without bloodletting,” said Vartan Gregorian, President of Carnegie Corporation. “Revenge has always been easy, forgiveness has always been difficult, but necessary. And forgiveness along with reconciliation is even more difficult. Mandela spared South Africa bloodshed, but more than that, he brought truth and reconciliation, with hope for the future of the country and its democracy.”
Carnegie Corporation is proud of its work over the past decade, along with a consortium of American foundations, in promoting the causes of higher education, libraries, and research in South Africa.