Captain Michele Amatore or Sulayman al-Nubi (1826-July 7, 1883) was a Sudanese enslave who became a captain in the marksman regiment of the Italian army. He was decorated for unselfish acts during a cholera outbreak in Sicily. Biography The early life of Amatore is mostly unknown. The name […]
Daniel Olorunfẹmi Fagunwa MBE (1903 — December 9, 1963), popularly known as D.O. Fagunwa, was a Nigerian author who pioneered the Yoruba language novel. He was born in Oke-Igbo, Ondo State, a chief of the Yoruba, Fagunwa studied at St. […]
Herbert Samuel Heelas Macaulay (November 14, 1864—May 7, 1946) was a Nigerian nationalist, politician, engineer, journalist, and musician and considered by many Nigerians as the founder of Nigerian nationalism. Early life Macaulay was born in Lagos […]
Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther (c. 1809 – 31 December 1891) was a linguist and the first African Anglican bishop in Nigeria. Born in Osogun (in today’s Iseyin Local Government, Oyo State, Nigeria), Rev. Dr. Samuel Ajayi Crowther was a […]
Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe (born 16 November 1930) popularly known as Chinua Achebe (pronounced /ˈtʃɪnwɑː əˈtʃɛbeɪ/;[1]) is a Nigerian[2] novelist, poet, professor, and critic. He is best known for his first novel and magnum opus[3], Things Fall Apart (1958), which is the […]
Aminata Dramane Traoré (born 1942) is a Malian author, politician, and political activist. She served as the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Mali from 1997 to 2000 and is a former coordinator of the United Nations Development Programme. She […]
Ahmad Baba al-Massufi al-Tinbukti, full name Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Ahmad al-Takruri Al-Massufi al-Timbukti (October 26, 1556 – 1627), (also known as Ahmed Baba Es Sudane or Ahmed Baba the black) was a medieval West African writer, […]
Massa Makan Diabaté (1938 – January 27, 1988) was a Malian historian, author, and playwright. Biography Born in 1938 in Kita, Massa Makan Diabaté was the descendant of a long line of West African poets (griots).[1]. His uncle, Kélé […]
Paul Tiyambe Zeleza (born 1955 in Harare) is a Malawian historian, literary critic, novelist, short-story writer and blogger at The Zeleza Post -.[1] He is currently (2009) president of theAfrican Studies Association.[2] He has most recently been named as the […]
Edward Wilmot Blyden (3 August 1832 – 7 February 1912) was a Sierra Leone Creole and Americo-Liberian educator, writer, diplomat, andpolitician in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Because Blyden was an intellectual force in both Liberia and Sierra Leone, historians regard him […]
Thomas Mokopu Mofolo (December 22, 1876- September 8, 1948) is considered to be the greatest Basotho author. He wrote mostly in the Sesotho language, but his most popular book, Chaka, has been translated into English and other languages. […]
Miriam K. Were (born 1940) is a Kenyan public health advocate, academic, and recipient of the first Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize. Academic experience With a degree in Natural Sciences and postgraduate Diploma in Education, Were taught […]
Koigi wa Wamwere (born December 18, 1949 in Rugongo, Nakuru District) is a Kenyan politician, human rights activist, journalist and writer. Koigi became famous for opposing both theJomo Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi regimes, both of which sent him […]
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (pronounced [ŋɡoɣe wa ðiɔŋɔ]; born January 5, 1938[1]) is a Kenyan author, formerly working in English and now working in Gĩkũyũ. His work includes novels, plays, short stories, and essays, ranging from literary and social criticism […]
Mwana Kupona binti Msham (born on Pate Island, died c. 1865) was a Swahili poetess of the 19th century, author of a poem known as Utendi wa Mwana Kupona (“the book of Mwana Kupona”), which is one of […]
Ali Al’amin Mazrui (born February 24, 1933 in Mombasa, Kenya) is an academic and political writer on African and Islamic studies and North-South relations. He is an Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities and the Director of the Institute […]
Jomo Kenyatta[pron.] (c. 1894[2] – 22 August 1978) served as the first Prime Minister (1963–1964) and President (1964–1978) of Kenya. He is considered the founding father of the Kenyan nation. In Kenya, Nairobi‘s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Kenyatta International Conference Centre, […]
Ferdinand Kwasi Fiawoo (26 December 1891, Wasuta – 21 July 1969) was a Ghanaian minister of religion, playwright and educator, founder of Zion College, the first secondary school in Ghana’s Volta Region. Life Ferdinand Kwasi Fiawoo was the son […]
Joe Coleman de Graft (April 2, 1924 – November 1, 1978) was a prominent Ghanaian writer, playwright and dramatist who was appointed the first director of the Ghana Drama Studio in 1962. Joseph Coleman de Graft, or Joe […]
Joseph Ephraim Casely-Hayford or Ekra-Agiman (29 September 1866–11 August 1930) was a Fante journalist, author, lawyer, educator, and politician who supported pan-African nationalism. He was born on 29 September 1866 in Cape Coast, in the British Gold Coast colony, now Ghana. […]
Akosua Busia is a Ghanaian born actress, writer, director and Princess. Her film credits include The Color Purple, Rosewood and Tears of the Sun. Her writing credits range from novels, The Seasons of Beento Blackbird, to screenplays, Beloved, to […]
J. Benibengor Blay (born 1915) was a Ghanaian journalist, writer, publisher and politician, who has been called “the father of popular writing in Ghana”. Life Blay was born in Half Assini and educated at the Regent Street […]
Raphael Ernest Grail Armattoe (12 August 1913 – 22 December 1953)[1] was a Ghanaian doctor, author, poet and politician. He was nominated for the 1949 Nobel Peace Prize and was a campaigner for unification of British […]
Ayi Kwei Armah (born 1939) is a notable Ghanaian writer. Early life and education Born to Fante-speaking parents, and descending on his father’s side from a royal family in the Ga tribe, Armah was born in the port […]
ِِ Enrie Leopold Wilfred Peters (September 1, 1932 – May 28, 2009)[1]) was a Gambian surgeon, novelist, and poet. Background Peters was born in Bathurst (now Banjul) to Lenrie Ernest Ingram Peters and Kezia Rosemary. Lenrie Sr. was a […]
Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin (17 August 1936—25 February 2006) was Poet Laureate of Ethiopia, as well as a poet, playwright, essayist, and art director. Biography Born in Boda, near Ambo, Ethiopia, While still at elementary school he wrote a play called […]
Sahle Selassie (c. 1795 – 22 October 1847) was a Meridazmach (and later Negus) of Shewa (1813–1847), an important noble of Ethiopia. He was a younger son of Wossen Seged. Sahle Selassie was the father of Haile Melekot and Darge Sahle Selassie […]
Achille Mbembe is a philosopher and political scientist.[1] He was born in Cameroon in 1957. He obtained his Ph.D. in History at the University of Sorbonne in Paris, France, in 1989. He subsequently obtained a D.E.A. in Political Science […]
Jean-Marc Ela (27 September 1936–26 December 2008) was a sociologist, Diocesan Priest, Professor and author of many books on theology, philosophy, and social sciences in Africa. His most famous work, African Cry has been called the […]
Jacques Bonjawo (born 30 December 1960, Yaoundé) is a software engineer, an author and a columnist in the application of technology to sustainable development. Jacques is most noted for his work at Microsoft in 1997–2006 as senior program manager for the MSN […]
Alexandre Biyidi Awala (30 June 1932 – 8 October 2001), known as Mongo Beti, was a Cameroonian writer. Life Though he lived in exile for many decades, Beti’s life reveals an unflagging commitment to improvement of his […]
Princess Esther Kamatari (born 1951) is a writer, model, and exiled Burundian princess. Esther Kamatari grew up in Burundi as a member of the royal family. Following independence in 1962, the king was overthrown in a militarycoup d’etat, and the monarchy abolished in […]
Malidoma Patrice Somé (born 1956) is a West African writer. He was born in Dano, Burkina Faso, among the Dagara. At the age of four he was kidnapped byJesuit missionaries, to be raised in their boarding school, and given an […]
Titinga Frédéric Pacéré (born 1943) is a Burkinabé solicitor, writer, poet and griot and founder and curator of the Musée de Manega museum in Burkino Faso. He studied in Abidjan. He has written over twenty books and published 60 volumes and has […]
Joseph Ki-Zerbo (June 21, 1922 – December 4, 2006, Burkina Faso) was a Burkinabé politician and writer. He spent his youth in Toma where he grew up in a rural context inside a big family. Ki-Zerbo […]
Bernadette Sanou Dao was born on the 25th of February 1952 in Baguinda (Bamako, Mali). At the age of 11, she returned to Burkina with her family. She undertook her secondary schooling at the […]
Nazi Boni (December 31, 1909 in Bwan, Upper Senegal and Niger – May 16, 1969 in Kokologho, Upper Volta) was a politician from Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso). In 1951 Boni was elected to the French National Assembly on behalf of […]
François Djobi Bassolet (1933- 2 July 2001) was a Burkina Faso journalist, historian, and cultural leader. Bassolet was the first director of the Agence voltaïque de presse (AVP) from 1978 to 1981, which was later rename the Agence […]
Leetile Disang Raditladi (1910–1971) was a Botswanan playwright and poet. He was born in Serowe and got his education in Tiger Kloof,Lovedale and Fort Hare University. He was banished from the Bangwato Reserve in 1937 after Tshekedi Khama, […]
Bessie Emery Head (July 6, 1937 – April 17, 1986) is usually considered Botswana‘s most important writer. Bessie Emery Head was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, the child of a wealthy white South African woman and a black […]
Unity Dow (born 23 April 1959) is a judge, human rights activist, and writer from Botswana. She came from a rural background that tended toward traditional values of the African kind. Her mother could not read English, and in […]
Paulin Hountondji (b.1942) is a Beninese philosopher and politician. Hountondji was educated at the Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, graduating in 1966, and taking his doctorate in 1970 (his thesis was on Edmund Husserl). After two years teaching in France and in the Congo […]
Mário Coelho Pinto de Andrade (August 21, 1928 – August 26, 1990) was an Angolan poet and politician. He was born in Golungo-Alto, in Portuguese Angola, and studied philology at the University of Lisbon and sociology at the Sorbonne in Paris. While there, […]
John Garang de Mabior (June 23, 1945 – July 30, 2005) was a Sudanese politician and rebel leader. From 1983 to 2005, he led the Sudan People’s Liberation Army during the Second Sudanese Civil War, and following a […]
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born 29 October 1938) is the 24th and current President of Liberia. She served as Minister of Finance under President William Tolbert from 1979 until the 1980 coup d’état, after which she left Liberia and held […]
Kwame Nkrumah (21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972)[1] was the leader of Ghana and its predecessor state, the Gold Coast, from 1952 to 1966. He was the first President of Ghana and the first Prime Minister of Ghana. […]
Abubaker Kaki Khamis (born 21 June 1989) is a Sudanese runner who specializes in the 800 metres. He is a two-time World Indoor Champion over the distance and also won gold at the 2007 All-Africa Games. He represented Sudan […]
Shaihu Usman dan Fodio ), born Usuman ɓii Foduye, (also referred to as Shaikh Usman Ibn Fodio, Shehu Uthman Dan Fuduye, or Shehu Usman dan Fodio, 1754–1817) was the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate in 1809, a […]
Dr. Philip Emeagwali ‘Father of the Internet’ Philip Emeagwali was born on August 23, 1954, in Akure, Nigeria, the son of James Emeagwali, a nurse’s aide, and his 16-year-old wife, Agatha. In April 1967, he […]
Robert Gabriel Mugabe (Shona pronunciation: [muɡaɓe], English: /mʊˈɡɑːbeɪ/ moo-GAH-bay; born 21 February 1924) is the second and currentPresident of Zimbabwe. One of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power as […]
Abdoulaye Wade (born May 29, 1926)[2] is the third and current President of Senegal, in office since 2000. He is also the Secretary-General of the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) and has led the party since it was founded […]
Kofi Atta Annan (born 8 April 1938) is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006. Annan and the United Nations were the co-recipients of […]
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (Xhosa pronunciation: [xoˈliɬaɬa manˈdeːla]; born 18 July 1918 died 5- December 2013)[1] served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in […]
