Renowned Kenyan author and intellectual Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has died aged 87 in the United States after a long illness, his family announced.
A towering figure in African literature, Ngũgĩ chronicled Kenya’s transformation from colonial rule to independence across a career spanning six decades. Born James Thiong’o Ngũgĩ in 1938, he experienced the trauma of the Mau Mau uprising firsthand—his village was destroyed, his family detained, and his deaf brother was fatally shot by colonial forces.
His debut novel, Weep Not, Child (1964), was the first major English-language novel by an East African writer. Encouraged by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, Ngũgĩ rose to prominence with works like A Grain of Wheat and The River Between.
In 1977, Ngũgĩ renounced his Christian name and the English language, choosing to write exclusively in Kikuyu. That same year, he co-authored a politically charged play that led to his imprisonment. While jailed, he wrote Devil on the Cross on toilet paper—his first novel in Kikuyu.
Though often tipped for the Nobel Prize, it eluded him. Still, Ngũgĩ leaves behind a powerful legacy as a champion of indigenous languages, a critic of postcolonial elites, and a literary force who resisted oppression with unwavering courage.
