Ngugi wa Thiong'o, the Giant of African Literature, Dies at 87

New Delhi: Ngugi wa Thiong'o, the giant of Kenyan literature, has died. He was 87.

He was born on January 5, 1938, in the central Kenyan region of Limuru. He died on May 28.

His death was announced by Wanjiku Wa Ngugi, his daughter. "It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our dad, Ngugi wa Thiong'o this Wednesday morning...He lived a full life, fought a good fight," she wrote on Facebook.

Ngugi was tipped for the Nobel in literature multiple times in his six-decade career marked by a fierce negation of colonial practices.

Born in a Kenya under British rude, Ngugi faced poverty, studied in the prestigious Makerere University in Uganda, and ultimately ended up at the University of Leeds in the UK. There, he dropped his Christian name, 'James'. In 1967, he took the name Ngugi wa Thiong'o.

Ngugi's work was critical of the British and also of the new rulers of Kenya. His essays, plays and novels – Weep Not, Child (1964), Devil on the Cross (1980) and Wizard of the Crow (2006) – offer enormous perspective on colonial Africa.

Throughout his life, Ngugi suffered censorship, imprisonment, and coercion – most of it by the by the dictator Daniel arap Moi – and was forced into exile eventually.

He died in Atlanta, in the US.

His son, Mukoma Wa Ngugi, wrote on X: "I am me because of him in so many ways, as his child, scholar and writer. I love him - I am not sure what tomorrow will bring without him here. I think that is all I have to say for now."

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