The French, British and the Germans consider former South African president Nelson Mandela "the greatest man on the international scene", according to a new poll by the French firm TNS.

Mandela was chosen the world's most prominent international figure by 35 percent of the 1 000 people questioned in early July 2005 in the poll carried out for the CNN television station.

The late Mother Teresa, the Macedonia-born nun who devoted her life to helping India's poorest of the poor, came in second with 30 percent of the vote.