Achebe, Chinua, << ah CHAY bay, CHIHN oo ah >> (1930-2013), was a leading Nigerian author best known for novels that explore the psychological and social impact of Western colonialism on traditional African societies. Achebe, who wrote in English, also dealt with aspects of African life after Africans gained their independence from European colonial powers in the mid-1900’s. Critics have praised the simplicity of Achebe’s language, his use of proverbs and folklore, his irony, and his objectivity in presenting complex issues. In 2007, Achebe received the Man Booker International Prize, now called the International Booker Prize, awarded to an author for lifetime achievement in fiction published in English.
Achebe gained international recognition with his first novel, Things Fall Apart (1958). The work portrays the influence of colonial European missionaries and government on a west African tribe during the late 1800’s. Achebe continued this theme in the novel Arrow of God (1964). He dealt with late colonial and postcolonial life in Africa in the novels No Longer at Ease (1960), A Man of the People (1966), and Anthills of the Savannah (1987).
In addition to his novels, Achebe wrote the short-story collections The Sacrificial Egg (1962) and Girls at War (1973). He also wrote a number of children’s books, including Chike and the River (1966), How the Leopard Got His Claws (1972) as coauthor, and The Flute and The Drum (both 1977). His poetry appears in Beware, Soul-Brother (1971), Christmas in Biafra (1973), and Collected Poems (2004). Many of his essays were published in Morning Yet on Creation Day (1975), The Trouble with Nigeria (1983), Hopes and Impediments (1988), and The Education of a British-Protected Child (2009). Achebe also wrote a memoir, There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra (2012).
Albert Chinualumogu Achebe was born on Nov. 16, 1930, in Ogidi, Nigeria, which was then a British colony. He attended University College in Ibadan from 1948 to 1953. Achebe worked in broadcasting in Nigeria from 1954 to 1966 and was professor of English at the University of Nigeria from 1976 to 1981. In 1990, he was paralyzed from the waist down in an auto accident in Nigeria. He was Professor of Languages and Literature at Bard College in the United States from 1993 until he moved to Brown University in 2009. Achebe died on March 21, 2013.
