MOSCOW, December 06, 10:40 /ITAR-TASS/. Nelson Mandela was a great national liberation movement figure of the 20th century, head of the international affairs committee of the Federation Council upper house of Russia’s parliament Mikhail Margelov stressed in an interview with Itar-Tass on Friday.

In his view, Mandela “was, probably, the last of the world politicians who achieved their goals through a non-violent protest of a free person, through calm courage of a political prisoner.” He “has ranked and ranks in importance with such fighters for freedom and independence as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Gamal Abdel Nasser and other outstanding figures of the national liberation movements of the 20th century,” the FC member said.

He also noted that Mandela “already at the beginning of his political career was ahead of time and then lived through an epoch of struggle for national liberation and witnessed a successful formation of the independent state for which he had fought,” and he “fought for this not only in his home country - South Africa, but also on the entire African continent, in all oppressed countries.”

“His memory, memory of his life, his choice, his courage, his manliness in the most difficult situations, of his true love for his country, should remain forever in our hearts,” Margelov concluded.

Nelson Mandela died at the age of 95 on Friday.