Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, a legendary Kenyan author and outspoken advocate for African languages, has died at the age of 87. His work spanned nearly 60 years, chronicling Kenya’s journey from colonial rule to independence and speaking boldly against injustice.
Born in 1938 in colonial Kenya, Ngũgĩ was named James Thiong’o Ngũgĩ before later rejecting his colonial name. He grew up in Limuru in a poor farming family. His parents made sacrifices to send him to Alliance High School, a top institution run by British missionaries. One school holiday, he returned home to find his village destroyed and relatives detained during the colonial crackdown on the Mau Mau uprising.
The rebellion deeply affected Ngũgĩ’s life. His brother Gitogo, who was deaf, was shot in the back by a British soldier for not following a command he couldn’t hear. Such personal losses shaped Ngũgĩ’s worldview and would later appear in his writing.
In 1959, Ngũgĩ left Kenya for Uganda, where he studied at Makerere University. At a writers’ conference there, he met Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, who helped publish Ngũgĩ’s first novel, Weep Not, Child, in 1964. It was the first major English-language novel by an East African. He followed it with The River Between and A Grain of Wheat, earning praise across the literary world.
In 1977, he made a bold shift: he changed his name to Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and chose to write only in Kikuyu, rejecting English as a colonial tool. His novel Petals of Blood, critical of Kenya’s post-independence elite, was published the same year. He also co-wrote a political play, I Will Marry When I Want, which led to his arrest and a year-long detention without trial. While imprisoned, he wrote Devil on the Cross on toilet paper due to lack of supplies.
After being released, threats to his life forced him into exile in the UK and later the US, where he taught at top universities like Yale and UC Irvine. He returned to Kenya after 22 years but was attacked shortly after his arrival. Ngũgĩ believed the assault was politically motivated.
Despite personal struggles, including health issues and family controversies, Ngũgĩ remained committed to promoting African languages in literature. His powerful legacy lives on through his writings and the many authors he inspired.
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