On the eve of Nelson Mandela's inauguration as South Africa's first democratic president, a daily Johannesburg-area newspaper commemorated the event with the headline, “From Prisoner to President.” Two years later, in 1996, the pivotal place of prison in President Mandela's own life, as well as in the country's history more generally, was recognized by placing, in the parliamentary buildings, a full-size replica of Mandela's Robben Island cell, where he lived for eighteen of his twenty-seven years in prison. Mandela and South Africa are not, however, unique in the role prison played in the political development of nation and individual; rather, they point to the role of prison in the political processes of many people and struggles.