Makaziwe Mandela was born into a family of
chieftains. Her father Nelson was a direct descendant of the holders of the kingship of the
Thembu people and was himself the heir of the chieftaincy of
Mvezo. His grandson, Makaziwe's nephew
Mandla, eventually succeeded to the latter title. She is named after her older sister, born in 1947, who died aged just nine months. Of the four children born to Nelson and Evelyn Mandela, Makaziwe is the only one still living. She received her secondary education at
Waterford Kamhlaba UWC of Southern Africa, before going to the
University of Fort Hare in South Africa. In 1993, she earned a PhD in
Anthropology at the
University of Massachusetts, in
Amherst, Massachusetts. ==Career==