Michelle Obama meets Nelson Mandela
The meeting with the 92-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner was discreetly arranged after Mrs Obama and her daughters visited archives chronicling some of his 27 years as a political prisoner.
At the Mandela Foundation, his wife Graca Machel guided Mrs Obama, her mother, and her daughters Malia and Sasha through an exhibit of his personal photographs and journals, in which he meticulously drafted letters but also kept more mundane notes on his weight and daily routine.
"After leaving here, she proceeded to make a brief courtesy call on former President Mandela," said Achmat Dangor, the head of the foundation, calling the first lady "a lovely woman without any airs".
Their visit added to the symbolism surrounding Mrs Obama's journey, with America's first black family in the White House meeting South Africa's first black president.
President Barack Obama has called the anti-apartheid struggle his first political cause, and US officials say he has had periodic telephone contact with Mr Mandela, who led the struggle against white-minority rule.
The two men met in 2006 when then-senator Obama toured Africa. A simple mobile phone picture of that meeting is now in Mr Mandela's office, aides to the first lady said.
Mr Mandela welcomed her entire family into his home, including a niece and nephew travelling with them.
Such visits are increasingly rare. Mr Mandela, who turns 92 next month, has received few guests since he was admitted to hospital with an acute respiratory infection in January.
On Thursday Mrs Obama planned to see Mr Mandela's former prison at Robben Island and meet Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu in Cape Town, before heading to neighbouring Botswana for a safari on Saturday.
On Wednesday she will also give the keynote address at a conference of the Young African Women Leaders Forum, a two-day meeting of young women who are playing leadership roles across the continent.
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Sources: CBS News, CNN, Telegraph.co.uk, White House.gov, Youtube, Google Maps
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