This is a list of dignitaries at the state memorial service of Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa.[1] Mandela died on 5 December 2013. Many heads of state and government attended the state memorial service on Tuesday, 10 December 2013, at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg. The memorial service was one of the largest gatherings of world leaders.[2] It was also the largest funeral in the history of South Africa, and the African continent itself.
Two UN secretaries-general, the presidents of the European Council and European Commission, two French presidents, four United States presidents, and four UK prime ministers attended the funeral service. In total, more than 500 VIP dignitaries from 19 supranational organizations and approximately 190 countries had arrived for this event. Some of the dignitaries later attended the burial ceremony on 15 December 2013 at Mandela's hometown, Qunu.
This memorial event was one of the largest in the world in terms of foreign leaders, along with the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005 and the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on 19 September 2022.
| Country | Title | Dignitary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queen | Queen Mathilde | ||
| Crown Prince | Prince Frederik | ||
| Crown Prince | Prince Naruhito | ||
| Queen Consort | Queen Rania | ||
| Princess Consort | Princess Charlene | ||
| Prince | Prince Moulay Rachid | ||
| Crown Prince | Prince Haakon | ||
| Prince | Prince Muqrin | ||
| Prince Felipe | |||
| Crown Princess | Princess Victoria | ||
| Prince of Wales | Prince Charles | ||
| Duke of Cambridge | Prince William | ||
| Prince | Prince Harry |
| Country | Title | Dignitary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deputy President | Kgalema Motlanthe | ||
| Abdelkader Bensalah | |||
| Vice-president | Manuel Vicente | ||
| High Commissioner | Carl Ruberts | ||
| Ambassador | Robert Murdoch | ||
| Vice-president | Amado Boudou | ||
| Foreign Minister | Maxine McClean | ||
| Viktor Guminsky[12] | |||
| Foreign Minister | Orlando Smith | ||
| Deputy Prime Minister | Angel Velichkov | ||
| Nova Scotia Premier | Stephen McNeil | ||
| Darrell Pasloski | |||
| Alberta Premier | Alison Redford | ||
| NDP Leader | Tom Mulcair | ||
| Foreign Minister | John Baird | ||
| Deputy Prime Minister | Samuel Rangba | ||
| Vice-president | Li Yuanchao[13] | ||
| Vice-president | Angelino Garzón | ||
| Foreign Minister | Bruno Rodriguez | ||
| Foreign Minister | Jan Kohout | ||
| Foreign Minister | Ricardo Patiño | ||
| Foreign Minister | Urmas Paet[14] | ||
| State Minister | Surafiel Mhreteab Abed | ||
| Minister of Foreign and European Affairs | Laurent Fabius[15] | ||
| Minister of Justice | Christiane Taubira | ||
| Minister of National Defence | Dimitris Avramopoulos | ||
| President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace | Peter Cardinal Turkson | ||
| Deputy Prime Minister | Zsolt Semjén | ||
| Chairperson of the National Advisory Council | Sonia Gandhi[16] | ||
| Minister of Commerce and Industry | Anand Sharma | ||
| Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha | Sushma Swaraj | ||
| Vice-president | Mohammad Shariatmadari | ||
| Eamon Gilmore | |||
| President of the Knesset | Yuli-Yoel Edelstein | ||
| Knesset representatives | 5 Speakers | ||
| President of the Chamber of Deputies | Laura Boldrini | ||
| Foreign Minister | Mohlabi Tsekoa | ||
| Government Representative | Gitanas Nausėda | ||
| Foreign Minister | Ephraim Chiume | ||
| Minister of the Federal Territories | Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor[17] | ||
| Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water | Maximus Ongkili | ||
| Foreign Minister | Frans Timmermans | ||
| Vice-president | Moises Omar Halleslevens Acevedo | ||
| Foreign Minister | Radosław Sikorski | ||
| Vice-president | Marisol Espinoza | ||
| Vice-president | Jejomar Binay[18] | ||
| Valentina Matviyenko | |||
| Deputy Prime Minister | Tharman Shanmugaratnam[19] | ||
| Foreign Minister | Miroslav Lajcak | ||
| Vice-president | Bakri Hassan Salih | ||
| Deputy Prime Minister | Beşir Atalay[20] | ||
| Foreign Minister | Leonid Kozhara | ||
| Minister of Culture | Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan | ||
| Deputy Prime Minister | Nick Clegg | ||
| Leader of the Opposition | Ed Miliband | ||
| Boris Johnson | |||
| John Bercow | |||
| Health Secretary | Jeremy Hunt | ||
| Attorney General | Eric Holder | ||
| National Security Advisor | Susan Rice | ||
| Senator from Texas | Ted Cruz | ||
| United States Congress representatives | 26 members of Congress | ||
| Deputy Minister | Donna Christian Christensen | ||
| Foreign Minister | Bernard Membe | ||
| Vicky Swai | |||
| Chairman of the Presidential Office | Đào Việt Trung | ||
| Vice-president | Guy Scott | ||
| Foreign Minister | Wilbur Simuusa | ||
| Deputy Prime Minister | Simbarashe Mumbengegwi |
| Organisation | Title | Dignitary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| President | Samir Hosny | ||
| Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma | |||
| Secretary-General | Kamalesh Sharma | ||
| Secretary General | Thorbjorn Jagland | ||
| President | Herman Van Rompuy | ||
| President of the European Commission | José Manuel Barroso | ||
| President of Parliament | Martin Schultz | ||
| Head of Delegation | Roeland van der Geer | ||
| FAO | President | José Graziano da Silva | |
| President | Guy Ryder | ||
| Managing director | Christine Lagarde | ||
| Director general | William Lacy Swing | ||
| Secretary General | Anders Fogh Rasmussen | ||
| Secretary General | José Ángel Gurría | ||
| Secretary General | Lamberto Zannier | ||
| Secretary General | Stergomena Tax | ||
| Secretary-General | Ban Ki-moon | ||
| Human Rights Commissioner | Navi Pillay | ||
| Director general | Irina Bokova | ||
| President | Yuri Fedotov | ||
| President | Ertharin Cousin | ||
| President | Jim Yong Kim |
| Country / Org | Title | Dignitary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Former Prime Minister | Paul Keating | ||
| 31st President | José Sarney | ||
| 32nd President | Fernando Collor de Mello | ||
| 34th President | |||
| 35th President | Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva | ||
| 16th Prime Minister | |||
| 18th Prime Minister | Brian Mulroney | ||
| 19th Prime Minister | Kim Campbell | ||
| 20th Prime Minister | |||
| 26th Governor General | |||
| 27th Governor General | Michaëlle Jean | ||
| 30th President | Andrés Pastrana[21] | ||
| 10th President | Martti Ahtisaari | ||
| 40th Prime Minister | Matti Vanhanen | ||
| 23rd President | Nicolas Sarkozy | ||
| 164th Prime Minister | Alain Juppé | ||
| 165th Prime Minister | Lionel Jospin | ||
| 13th President | Horst Köhler | ||
| 1st President (Fourth Republic) | Jerry Rawlings | ||
| 5th President | Mohammad Khatami | ||
| 7th President | Mary Robinson | ||
| Former Taoiseach | Bertie Ahern | ||
| Former Prime Minister | Silvio Berlusconi | ||
| 58th Prime Minister | Yasuo Fukuda | ||
| 1st President | Sam Nujoma | ||
| 35th Prime Minister | Jim Bolger | ||
| 1st President (Fourth Republic) | Olusegun Obasanjo | ||
| 11th Vice President | Atiku Abubakar | ||
| 27th Prime Minister | Jens Stoltenberg | ||
| 2nd President | Lech Wałęsa | ||
| 3rd President | Emil Constantinescu | ||
| Former Soviet President | Mikhail Gorbachev | ||
| State President / 1st Deputy President | Frederik Willem De Klerk | ||
| 2nd President | Thabo Mbeki | ||
| 3rd President | Kgalema Motlanthe | ||
| former Prime Minister | John Major | ||
| former Prime Minister | Tony Blair | ||
| former Prime Minister | |||
| 39th President | |||
| 42nd President | Bill Clinton | ||
| 43rd President | George W. Bush | ||
| Former Vice President | Ali Mohamed Shein | ||
| 1st President | Kenneth Kaunda | ||
| Former President | Alpha Oumar Konare | ||
| 7th Secretary General | Kofi Annan |
This section is a partial list of notable guests who attended the memorial service.
Former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who frequently attended funerals of world leaders during his term of office, did not attend. Germany's former leaders did not usually attend world leaders' funerals.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was expected to attend the service but had to cancel his visit due to the visit of his Russian counterpart in Tehran.[24]
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did not attend the memorial service citing financial and security reasons.[25]
The ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to not send a delegation because of the time constraint. Instead, Foreign Minister David Lin personally visited the Liaison Office of South Africa to convey condolences over the death of Mandela. In addition, the Representative of the ROC to South Africa visited the Union Buildings in Pretoria to view the remains of Mandela and pay respects on behalf of the ROC government.[26]
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was expected to attend but declined due to ongoing protests against her government.
The 14th Dalai Lama was expected to attend the service but was denied a visa by the South African government.[27]
Pope Francis was sent an invitation to attend either the memorial or state funeral. He did not attend either because it was against the tradition that Popes do not usually attend funerals of world leaders.
President Trương Tấn Sang did not attend the service due to the time constraint. The country was represented by Đào Việt Trung, Chairman of the Presidential Office.
South Africa