konknaijagirl | On 22, Mar 2013

Chinua Achebe (born Albert Chínụ̀álụmọ̀gụ̀ Àchèbé, born 16 November 1930 was a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and literary critic.

He is best known for his first novel and magnum opus,Things Fall Apart (1958), which is the most widely read book in modern African literature.

He died in Boston yesterday 22 March 2013

Things Fall Apart a highly educational and epic literary piece has been translated into over fifty languages across the world and has sold over 8 million copies and was also adapted for screenplay and is cast in educational podiums on a similar learning and teaching spectre as Shakespearean works.

The book exemplified and dramatised the impact of colonialism in Africa and focused on historical renders of British imperialism and Christian missionaries and their impact on the traditional Igbo/ibo society.

Achebe was also a leading critic of stereotypical ideologies of Westerners had portrayed Africa, especially in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.He was nominated for the Man Booker Prize for his 1987 novel, the Anthills of the Savannah, which is about a military coup in the fictional West African nation of Kangan.

Achebe had been living in the US since 1990 following injuries from a car crash and was the Professor of Africana Studies and was the David and Marianna University Professor at Brown University.

Some other works by Achebe are No Longer at Ease (sequel to Things Fall Apart), Arrow of God, and A Man of the People.

He also wrote short stories, poems and children’s stories.

May his legacy live on and his soul rest in peace

image credits – Sahara