Published by the Associated Press

December 5, 2013

Pennsylvania's chief executive is remembering Nelson Mandela as "a colossus of freedom."

Gov. Tom Corbett issued a statement Thursday that said the world lost one of its greatest statesmen and a champion of liberty.

He says the former South African president's personal courage in fighting for equality and human rights was matched by a generosity of spirit in uniting and reconciling his country, freeing it from the system of apartheid.

Corbett says the world is a better place for Mandela having lived.

Mandela died Thursday at age 95.

("Corbett recalls Mandela as 'colossus of freedom'," Associated Press, 12/5/13)