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Nelson Rlihlahla Mandela was born in the small village of Transkei near Umtata on July 18,1918. Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, Mandela’s father, was a hereditary counsellor and chief to the Thembu king, which made Mandela a member of the Thembu royal family. At age seven Mandela was sent to a Methodist mission school, where his first teacher gave him his English name Nelson. Two years later, his father died and Jongintaba Dalindyebo, Mandela’s uncle, offered to be his guardian. During this time he assisted his uncle in official tasks and admired Jongintaba’s leadership skills. In later years Mandela said that he based his leadership style on what he learned from his uncle: to listen carefully to others before expressing his opinions and working to achieve consensus. In 1939, after graduating from a Methodist secondary school, he entered the University College of Fort Hare (the only institution of higher learning open to Africans in the entire country). There he excelled academically, taking up boxing a cyber nd running, and was elected onto the Student's Representative Council. During his second year he was suspended from college for taking part in a student strike. Mandela returned