Acclaimed Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o has died at age 87, his family members have announced.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our dad, Ngugi wa Thiong’o,” his daughter Wanjiku Wa Ngugi wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. “He lived a full life, fought a good fight,” she added.
Ngugi was reportedly receiving kidney dialysis treatments at the time of his death. His cause of death is however still unknown.
Thiong’o is known for writing a number of books and for his unending fight for recognition and use of indigenous languages.
For his work in literature, Thiong’o has been recognized all through his life with awards such as the Lotus Prize for Literature and National Book Critics Award, among others. He has also been conferred honorary degrees by different universities across the world.
His recognition came from a repressive past, where he was imprisoned and exiled for writing content the then-government considered treasonous.
In 1982, he went into self-imposed exile in the UK after a ban on theater groups and performances in his home country of Kenya. He subsequently moved to the U.S., and while there, he worked as a professor of comparative literature at the University of California, Irvine.
He went on to write various works, including memoirs, essays and novels about Kenya. “Decolonising the Mind”, which was published in 1986 while outside of his country, argues that it is “impossible to liberate oneself while using the language of oppressors”, AFP reported.
In the 1970s when he chose to switch from writing in English to the Kikuyu and Swahili languages, many thought that was a crazy idea. “We all thought he was mad… and brave at the same time,” Kenyan writer David Maillu told the AFP.
“We asked ourselves who would buy the books.”
Today, many will remember him for his intellectual and literary struggle for truth, justice and democracy through his works.
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