Former South African President Nelson Mandela has died at age 95 of complications from a recurring lung infection. The anti-apartheid leader and Nobel laureate was a beloved figure around the world, a symbol of reconciliation from a country with a brutal history of racism.

Mandela was released from prison in 1990 after nearly 30 years for plotting to overthrow South Africa's apartheid government. In 1994, in a historic election, he became the nation's first black leader. Mandela stepped down in 1999 after a single term and retired from political and public life.

The death of Nelson Mandela won’t diminish his status as an icon and inspiration to the millions who loved the South African leader, his grieving family said Saturday. 

“The pillar of the royal Mandela family is no more with us physically, but his spirit is still with us,” the freedom fighter’s survivors said in their first statement since his death Thursday evening.