Nelson Mandela's online archive launched

Thousands of items, including handwritten documents, photos and videos chronicling the life of South Africa's first Black president is now available online.

The Nelson Mandela Centre collaborated with internet giant Google to digitise and place in an online archive of the former president.

The archive includes everything from his Methodist Church membership cards as well as hand-written letters and diaries during his 27-year incarceration in prison and the earliest-known photograph of Mandela, taken in 1938.

Google gave a $1.25m grant to help preserve and digitize thousands of archival documents held in the Johannesburg-based center -- including never-before-seen items donated by the former president himself -- so that they could reach a broader audience online.

"It is invigorating to see our combined efforts become a reality," said Verne Harris, head of the Nelson Mandela Center of Memory. "This digital initiative will make it possible for us to reach the full spectrum of our stakeholders, from the global elite to systemically disadvantaged South Africans."

Speaking at the launch of the online archive, South Africa's Minister of Science and Technology Naledi Pandor described Mandela as "the most famous ex-political prisoner of all time" and praised him for making "his own intellectual property available to all."

"He is an inspiration to us all. His qualities as a person inspire us. And they inspire our children," she said. "It is a pioneering step to digitize Mr Mandela's own records and to post them online."

To view the archive, click here