Chinua Achebe (1930–2013)
Author of Things Fall Apart
About the Author
Albert Chinualumogu Achebe was born on November 16, 1930 in Ogidi, Nigeria. He studied English, history and theology at University College in Ibadan from 1948 to 1953. After receiving a second-class degree, he taught for a while before joining the Nigeria Broadcasting Service in 1954. He was show more working as a broadcaster when he wrote his first two novels, and then quit working to devote himself to writing full time. Unfortunately his literary career was cut short by the Nigerian Civil War. During this time he supported the ill-fated Biafrian cause and served abroad as a diplomat. He and his family narrowly escaped assassination. After the civil war, he abandoned fiction for a period in favor of essays, short stories, and poetry. His works include Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God, No Longer at Ease, A Man of the People, Anthills of the Savannah, and There Was a Country. He also wrote four children's books including Chike and the River and How the Leopard Got His Claws. In 2007, he won the Man Booker International Prize for his "overall contribution to fiction on the world stage." He also worked as a professor of literature in Nigeria and the United States. He died following a brief illness on March 21, 2013 at the age of 82. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Photograph by Stuart C. Shapiro; used by permission
Series
Works by Chinua Achebe
Things Fall Apart : No Longer At Ease : Anthills of the Savannah (Voices of the African Diaspora) (1987) 28 copies
Dead Men's Path 4 copies
Sugar Baby [short story] 4 copies
Už nikdy klid 2 copies
Marriage is a Private Affair 2 copies
Civil Peace 2 copies
හිරු බැස ගිය පසු 1 copy
Things fall apart 1 copy
Human Mine Sweeper 1 copy
Associated Works
A World of Ideas : Conversations With Thoughtful Men and Women About American Life Today and the Ideas Shaping Our… (1989) — Interviewee — 550 copies
Other Voices, Other Vistas: Short Stories from Africa, China, India, Japan, and Latin America (1992) — Contributor — 189 copies
African Rhapsody: Short Stories of the Contemporary African Experience (1994) — Foreword, some editions — 16 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Achebe, Albert Chinụalụmọgụ
- Birthdate
- 1930-11-16
- Date of death
- 2013-03-21
- Burial location
- Ogidi, Anambra State, Nigeria
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- Nigeria
- Birthplace
- Ogidi, Anambra State, Nigeria Protectorate
- Place of death
- Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Places of residence
- Ogidi, Nigeria
Nekede, Nigeria
Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria
Oba, Nigeria
Lagos, Nigeria
Enugu, Nigeria (show all 12)
Aba, Biafra
Nsukku, Nigeria
Nneobi, Nigeria
Annandale, New York, USA
Massachusetts, USA
Providence, Rhode Island, USA - Education
- University College, Ibadan, Nigeria
University of London - Occupations
- broadcaster
professor
novelist
short-story writer
poet
school teacher - Relationships
- Okigbo, Christopher (friend)
- Organizations
- Anambra State University of Technology
Bard College
Brown University
Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation - Awards and honors
- Man Booker International Prize (2007)
Visiting professorship (University of Massachusetts-Amherst ∙ University of Connecticut ∙ UCLA)
Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels (2002)
American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. Honorary Fellowship.
Nigerian National Merit Award
Campion Award (1996) (show all 7)
Lotus Prize for Literature (1975) - Short biography
- Chinua Achebe was born in Nigeria in 1930. He was raised in the large village of Ogidi, one of the first centers of Anglican missionary work in Eastern Nigeria, and was a graduate of University College, Ibadan.
His early career in radio ended abruptly in 1966, when he left his post as Director of External Broadcasting in Nigeria during the national upheaval that led to the Biafran War. He was appointed Senior Research Fellow at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and began lecturing widely abroad.
From 1972 to 1976, and again in 1987 to 1988, Mr. Achebe was Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and also for one year at the University of Connecticut, Storrs.
Cited in the London Sunday Times as one of the "1,000 Makers of the Twentieth Century" for defining "a modern African literature that was truly African" and thereby making "a major contribution to world literature," Chinua Achebe published novels, short stories, essays and children's books. [adapted from Things Fall Apart, c1959, 1994 printing Anchor Books Ed.]
Mr. Achebe received numerous honors from around the world including more than twenty honorary doctorates from universities in England, Scotland, the United States, Canada, and Nigeria.
Latterly Mr. Achebe lived with his wife in Annandale, New York, where they both taught at Bard College. They had four children.
Members
Discussions
AFRICAN NOVEL CHALLENGE JULY 2023 - ACHEBE / OKRI in 75 Books Challenge for 2023 (August 2023)
Things Fall Apart Chapters 18-25/END in Geeks who love the Classics (February 2022)
Things Fall Apart Chapters 9-17 in Geeks who love the Classics (February 2022)
Things Fall Apart Chapters 1-8 in Geeks who love the Classics (January 2022)
Things Fall Apart Jan-March 2022 Housekeeping Items in Geeks who love the Classics (January 2022)
November 2020: Chinua Achebe in Monthly Author Reads (December 2020)
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Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 52
- Also by
- 19
- Members
- 28,772
- Popularity
- #698
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 581
- ISBNs
- 412
- Languages
- 27
- Favorited
- 44
The region that is described had 9 different clans. While other clans had their high title deluded, as they were able to be purchased by anyone, Okonkwo’s clan kept the high title very sacred and exclusive. Okonkwo had earned one such title while he was always ashamed that his father had not. Okonkwo’s belief system expresses itself by doing everything opposite of what his father had done, such as being lazy. When Okonkwo sees the same defects in his children, the children get a harsh treatment.
The story presented many difficult situations, and showed the cultural aspects in creating the set decisions in dealing with the situation. The book’s cultural divisions and lessons arrive more steadily as the book progresses, leaving the biggest differences of culture to the end. Great book for helping to understand the struggle of cultural, and other, divides.
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