His six-decade career chronicled Kenya’s evolution from colonialism to democracy.
Renowned Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, a giant of African literature, has died at the age of 87.
His six-decade career chronicled Kenya’s evolution from colonialism to democracy. Born James Ngũgĩ in 1938, he witnessed the brutality of British rule, including his deaf brother’s killing during the Mau Mau crackdown.
Ngũgĩ’s first novel, Weep Not, Child, published in 1964 with help from Chinua Achebe, was the first major English novel by an East African. In 1977, he dropped English for Kikuyu and was jailed for a critical play. In prison, he wrote Devil on the Cross on toilet paper.
After threats, he lived in exile, later teaching in U.S. universities. He fiercely defended African languages, once asking: “What is the difference between a politician who says Africa cannot do without imperialism and the writer who says Africa cannot do without European languages?”
Ngũgĩ had nine children. He survived cancer, kidney failure, and returned a hero to Kenya.