A great man dies

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

A great man sadly used by his family at the end has died. End of of era - no Nelson Mandela.

[southall-1998]

Drug overdose?

S.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

Nadia and I have two personal friends who are UK doctors of Afrikaan origin. They say Mandela was forced to live. just being kept alive by machine, because of family and political problems, they wanted him alive in any condition.

[wallace]

Indeed,a great man,one of his last descriptions of himself was "I am an unemployed pensioner with a criminal record". He even invited his jailer to his inauguration as president. Unlike a lot of great men he had a sense of humour..

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

A great man yet his family are as corrupt, greedy, manipulative and just plain criminal as you can get. No ones perfect nor was Mandela, but he is iconic like Kennedy was, according to rumour both liked lots of women. I see three twentieth century icons Gandhi, Kennedy, Mandela, with the possible addition of Churchill. For ladies it is hard to think of anyone but Mother Teresa.

For me top iconic figures for the last 100 years would be Gandhi and Teresa. People who symbolised their times.

[gus3049]

A great man yet his family are as corrupt, greedy, manipulative and just plain criminal as you can get. No ones perfect nor was Mandela, but he is iconic like Kennedy was, according to rumour both liked lots of women. I see three twentieth century icons Gandhi, Kennedy, Mandela, with the possible addition of Churchill. For ladies it is hard to think of anyone but Mother Teresa.

For me top iconic figures for the last 100 years would be Gandhi and Teresa. People who symbolised their times.

Hmm. I think I would go along with the 'no one is perfect' comment. Gandhi I can see more good than harm in but I would draw the line at Mother Teresa. On the surface she did good but the underlying world view and bigotry is a bit much to take - for me. For instance, she denounced contraception as the moral equivalent of abortion. As abortion was considered murder then it follows that a sheath or a pill is a murder weapon!! (quote from god is not good by Chris Hitchens)

However, I don't expect anyone to be a saint (sic) but there is no doubt that your list includes the standout personalities - good or bad - from the last century or so.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

To be an icon you don't have to be right, you have to write your name across history. I think if you had a vote from grown up educated people you would get Mother Teresa at the top of the female list, who else fits. Sirimavo Bandaranaike - I think not. Maggie Thatcher - an on line war excuse. Indira Gandhi - not likely unless you are a member of her family. Aung San Suu Kyi would definitely be a candidate but she is still alive.

There are the evil icons as well but far more of them and we dwell too much on them anyway.

[gus3049]

To be an icon you don't have to be right, you have to write your name across history. I think if you had a vote from grown up educated people you would get Mother Teresa at the top of the female list, who else fits. Sirimavo Bandaranaike - I think not. Maggie Thatcher - an on line war excuse. Indira Gandhi - not likely unless you are a member of her family. Aung San Suu Kyi would definitely be a candidate but she is still alive.

There are the evil icons as well but far more of them and we dwell too much on them anyway.

I guess. She wouldn't be on my list though. Sadly, I can't think of anyone but Maggie who has really left a lasting impression, good or bad. A poor reflection upon our male dominated society.