Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, the celebrated Kenyan novelist, playwright, and post-colonial theorist, died on May 28, 2025, at the age of 87, marking the end of a monumental era in African literature.
Renowned for his fearless political voice and pioneering advocacy for African languages, Ngũgĩ spent his life challenging colonial legacies and uplifting African identity through literature, education, and activism.
Born James Ngugi in 1938 in Kamiriithu, near Limuru, Ngũgĩ’s early life unfolded under the harsh grip of British colonial rule. He was raised in a large Kikuyu family and witnessed firsthand the violence of the Mau Mau Uprising (1952–1962).
The war deeply scarred his family. Two of his brothers were killed, his mother was tortured, and their home was destroyed. Another brother, captured while fighting, was sent to a concentration camp.
These harrowing experiences profoundly shaped Ngũgĩ’s worldview and later became central themes in his early novels such as Weep Not, Child and The River Between.
Ngũgĩ attended Alliance High School before joining Makerere University College in Uganda, then affiliated with London University. It was at Makerere that his writing career began. He published short stories and staged his first play, The Black Hermit, during the 1962 African Writers Conference.
He later studied at the University of Leeds in England, where exposure to thinkers like Frantz Fanon influenced his growing political radicalism and embrace of Marxist ideals. This ideological shift would become evident in his later works, including A Grain of Wheat (1967) and Petals of Blood (1977), which explore class struggle, resistance, and post-independence disillusionment.
After returning to Kenya, Ngũgĩ joined the University of Nairobi, where he championed the decolonisation of literature. He pushed for African languages and texts to take centre stage in academia, leading to the replacement of the English Department with an African Literature and Languages department.
In 1976, he co-founded the Kamiriithu Community Education and Cultural Centre, a revolutionary initiative that used participatory theatre in Gĩkũyũ to engage local communities in political and cultural dialogue.
This activism, paired with the release of Petals of Blood, led to his arrest and detention at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in 1977. While imprisoned, he made a life-changing decision: to abandon English as a medium of creative writing and embrace Gĩkũyũ. He authored Caitaani Mũtharaba-Inĩ (Devil on the Cross), the first modern novel in Gĩkũyũ, using prison toilet paper.
In Decolonising the Mind (1986), he powerfully argued that true liberation for African writers could only be achieved by expressing themselves in their native languages—a call that has echoed globally.
After his release in 1978, Ngũgĩ remained a target of state surveillance and repression. In 1982, facing continued harassment, he fled Kenya with his family, beginning a 22-year exile.
During this time, he held academic posts at some of the world’s leading universities, including Yale, Bayreuth, Northwestern, and eventually the University of California, Irvine, where he became a Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and English.
Even in exile, Ngũgĩ’s activism thrived. He published works like Detained, his prison diary, and Matigari, a satirical novel later banned in Kenya. He also co-founded the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners in Kenya.
Ngũgĩ returned to Kenya in 2004, but the homecoming turned tragic. He and his second wife, Njeeri wa Ngũgĩ, were brutally attacked in a politically motivated assault at their Nairobi home. The couple returned to the United States soon after.
Until his death, Ngũgĩ remained a towering figure in world literature, advocating tirelessly for linguistic justice and African cultural pride. He founded Mũtĩiri, a Gĩkũyũ-language journal, and saw his short story The Upright Revolution translated into over 100 languages.
Ngũgĩ was first married to Nyambura wa Ngũgĩ, with whom he had several children, including writers and scholars Tee Ngũgĩ, Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ, Nducu wa Ngũgĩ, and Wanjiku wa Ngũgĩ. He later married Njeeri wa Ngũgĩ.
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o leaves behind a transformative legacy that stretches across literature, academia, and global cultural politics. His fearless advocacy for African identity, decolonised education, and indigenous languages reshaped how Africa tells its stories—and how the world listens.
His death is a profound loss to Kenya and to literary communities around the world. Yet, his words, ideas, and revolutionary spirit will continue to inspire generations.
