Mandela and his three wives: Evelyn, Winnie and Graca

Nelson Mandela ducked out of an arranged marriage when he was a student, then went on to wed three times.In sharp contrast to Graca Machel and his feisty second wife Winnie, Mandela's first wife was a demure country girl who kept well away from politics.Like him, Evelyn Wase hailed from the rural Transkei and had come to Johannesburg in the early 1940s to carve out a living in the big city.