HYDE PARK, NY-The Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute announced today that Nelson Mandela, former President of the Republic of South Africa, leader of the anti-aparteid movement and a champion of democracy and human rights, has been named the recipient of the International Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Medal for the year 2002. The other recipients, honored for their individual contributions to each of the Four Freedoms, include: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Freedom of Speech and Expression; Dr. Nasr H. Abu Zayd, Professor of Islamic Studies and holder of the Cleveringa Chair at the University of Leiden, Freedom of Worship; Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of the World Health Organization, Freedom from Want; and Ernesto Zedillo, former president of Mexico and a defender of democracy, Freedom from Fear. The medals will be awarded on June 8 in Middelburg, the Netherlands, in the presence of HM, Queen Beatrix.

"In these difficult days," said FERI Co-Chair, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, "the ideals called for in President Roosevelt's famous speech of January 6, 1941--freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear--have become more important than ever. The individuals we have chosen to honor with the Four Freedoms Medals embody those ideals and are leaders in the struggle to fulfill Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt's vision of human freedom."

The Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute is a nonprofit organization headquartered at the FDR Presidential Library in Hyde Park, New York. Its mission is to inform new generations of the ideals and achievements of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, to inspire the application of their spirit of optimism and innovation to the solution of current problems and to provide financial and program support to the FDR Library.

The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Freedom Medals, awarded nationally since 1950 and internationally since 1982, are presented to Americans in Hyde Park, NY and in alternate years to international figures at the Roosevelt Study Center in Middelburg, the Netherlands. Past recipients of the international awards include: The Dalai Lama; Vaclav Havel, President of the Czech Republic; H.M. Princess Juliana, former Queen of the Netherlands; Shimon Peres, former Prime Minister of Israel; and Javier Perez de Cuellar, former Secretary-General of the United Nations.