Wole Soyinka: Biography, Political Activism, Major Plays, Nobel Prize, Achievements
Wole Soyinka Image courtesy from the Nobel Foundation archive
In recent decades, very good playwrights have emerged from the African continent, but nowhere do they reach the excellence of Nigerian playwright and poet Wole Soyinka.
Most known for winning the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature in , Wole Soyinka has written critically acclaimed plays for both theatre and radio. He thus became the first sub-Saharan African to win a Nobel Prize.
Drawing heavily from Yoruba people’s myths, rites and cultural patterns, Soyinka, a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Duke University, has attained incredible feats to the point where he is now considered one of the finest poetical playwrights of all time.
Wole Soyinka: Quick Facts
Born: Akinwande Ouwole “Wole” Soyinka
Birthday: July 13,
Place of birth: Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria (formerly Nigeria Protectorate)
Parents: Grace Eniola Soyinka and Samuel Ayodele Soyinka
Siblings: Folashade (died at age one), Kayode, Omofolabo “Folabo”, Yeside, Femi, and Atinuke “Tinu”.
Education: Abeokuta Grammar School, Government
Biography of Wole Soyinka
Soyinka was born into a Yoruba family in Abeokuta. In , he attended Government College in Ibadan, and subsequently University College Ibadan and the University of Leeds in England. After studying in Nigeria and the UK, he worked with the Royal Court Theatre in London. He went on to write plays that were produced in both countries, in theatres and on radio. He took an active role in Nigeria's political history and its campaign for independence from British colonial rule. In , he seized the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service studio and broadcast a demand for the cancellation of the Western Nigeria Regional Elections. In , during the Nigerian Civil War, he was arrested by the federal government of General Yakubu Gowon and p
Wole Soyinka
Early Years And Education
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka was born 13th July , to Samuel and Grace Soyinka. He was born in Abeokuta, Nigeria Protectorate. This area is now known as Ogun State in Nigeria.
At the time of his birth, Nigeria Protectorate was under British rule. He came from a sizeable family, with five brothers and sisters. His father was a school headmaster as well as a minister for the Anglican church, and his mother was a shop owner. His mother was also a political activist.
Soyinka studied at Abeokuta Grammar School, and from there was accepted into Government College in Ibadan, which was one of the most prominent and elite secondary schools in Nigeria.
He graduated in and then went to University College Ibadan where he studied English literature, Western history, and Greek for two years. In he wrote a play for radio which was broadcast that same year. Soyinka also founded the first Confraternity with some of his peers called Pyrates Confraternity which was an anti-corruption group.
In , he moved to England to continue with his studies at the University of Leeds. He began writing and working as an editor for a magazine calledThe
From to , Soyinka was Professor of Comparative Literature at Obafemi Awolowo University, then known as the University of Ife. Soyinka was a professor of creative writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Soyinka has also served as a lecturer at other foreign universities, including Cornell University, Emory University, Oxford University, Harvard University and Yale University. In he was appointed Robert W. Woodruff Professor of the Arts while teaching at Cornell University. He wrote a lot of poetry from prison when he was imprisoned in for speaking out against the war sparked by Biafras attempted secession from Nigeria. In Madmen and Specialists (), written shortly after
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Wole Soyinka biography, wife, children, family, brief information
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