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5 pictures of African literary giant Wole Soyinka on his birthday

Today an African literary giant Prof Wole Soyinka celebrates his birthday. Soyinka is considered one of the foremost African poetry, and prose writers. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first African to be honoured in that category. As we celebrate Prof Soyinka’s birthday, we look at some moments in his life in pictures.

Published

8 years ago

July 13, 2017

This Is Africa

Today an African literary giant Prof Wole Soyinka celebrates his birthday.

Soyinka was born into a Yoruba family in Abeokuta. He studied in Nigeria and the UK, and worked with the Royal Court Theatre in London. Prof Soyinka is an accomplished writer and poet having written several plays that were produced in several countries, in theatres and on radio.

In Nigeria, Soyinka was a Professor of Comparative Literature (1975 to 1999) at the Obafemi Awolowo University, then called the University of Ife. He has taught at several American universities. He has continued lecturing as visiting Professor, and distinguished scholar in various American, European, African and Chinese universities.

In 2017, Prof Soyinka joined the University of Johannesburg in South Africa as a distinguished visiting professor in the Faculty of Humanities.

A strong critic of the previous regimes in Nigeria, Prof Soyinka has been at the forefront of the pro-democracy struggle in the country. He has never been the one to shy away from speaking his mind on pertinent political and human rights issues.

As we celebrate Prof Soyinka’s birthday, we look at some of his pictures.

The Commission on Human Rights and Participatory Legislation (HRC) holds an interactive public hearing on the living legacy of Abdias Nascimento. The event will be attended by Wole Soyinka, the first African to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Photo: Foto: Geraldo Magela/Agência Senado/Flickr/Senado Federal.