THREE PIVOTAL FIGURES

PRESIDENT FREDERIK W. DE KLERK, 53, was known as a right-wing conservative until he became president five months ago and began to chip away at apartheid race laws. He is a product of a prominent Afrikaner (Dutch-descended) political dynasty . . . had a meteoric rise as a Cabinet minister . . . became head of state in September after winning a power struggle with outgoing president Pieter W. Botha . . . is lawyer from Transvaal . . . for years was identified with the ruling National Party’s right wing . . . was reviled by anti-apartheid activists for supporting racial segregation of schools as education minister . . . remains a believer in racial classification of society, the cornerstone of apartheid . . . secured leadership of National Party in February last year after Botha had a stroke . . . led party to victory in parliamentary elections in September . . . is married with three children.

From behind bars, NELSON R. MANDELA, 71, has dominated fight for black rights in South Africa for over 25 years as a worldwide symbol of opposition to white-minority rule. He was arrested in 1962 . . . his last public address was almost two years later at his trial for sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government . . . was jailed for life with seven others in June, 1964, and did hard labor for 12 years on Robben Island, near Cape Town . . . was transferred to a mainland jail in April, 1982 . . . calls himself a nationalist but not a Communist . . . has said his outlawed African National Congress had no option but to fight the violence of apartheid with violence of its own . . . campaign for his release rose when he marked 70th birthday on July 18, 1988 . . . has always insisted on unconditional release and refused to repudiate ANC guerrilla war against white rule as the price of liberty.

OLIVER TAMBO, 72, is president of anti-apartheid African National Congress, which was legalized Friday after 30 years. He was born to peasant subsistence farmers of Pondo tribe near Johannesburg . . . went to Ft. Hare University on scholarship but was expelled in 1942 for leading student protest . . . taught science and mathematics . . . founded Youth League of African National Congress in 1944 with Nelson R. Mandela and others . . . was elected to ANC executive body in 1949 . . . helped lead program of strikes and civil disobedience against apartheid, beginning in 1952 . . . helped form first black law firm in Johannesburg . . . was arrested in 1956 for treason but was acquitted . . . set up foreign ANC headquarters in Botswana after group was banned in 1960 . . . has helped hold ANC together after Mandela was imprisoned . . . is married with three children, who live in London . . . recently had a stroke.