TOPSHOTS A giant screen shows US President Barack Obama delivering a speech during the memorial service for late South African President Nelson Mandela at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg on December 10, 2013. Mandela, the revered icon of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and one of the towering political figures of the 20th century, died in Johannesburg on December 5 at age 95. Mandela, who was elected South Africa's first black president after spending nearly three decades in prison, had been receiving treatment for a lung infection at his Johannesburg home since September, after three months in hospital in a critical state. AFP PHOTO / BRENDAN SMIALOWSKIBRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
President Barack Obama eulogized Nelson Mandela as "the last great liberator of the 20th century" as tens of thousands of South Africans, joyously cheering and singing despite a cold rain, mourned the passing and celebrated the life of the father of their modern nation.
Obama, speaking in an open soccer stadium and before a gathering of global leaders, likened Mandela to historic giants of the past century, such as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Like them, Mandela willingly "suffered the consequences of his actions" in standing up to powerful oppressors, Obama said.