Nigerian author and self proclaimed feminist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and writer, poet and playwright Wole Soyinka have been named two of Africa’s Greatest Innovators in Arts and Sciences.
National Geographic asked Professor Henry Louis “Skip” Gates, Jr., the director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute at Harvard University, to name some of Africa’s top intellectual innovators.
The American literary critic/educator/scholar/writer selected the 36-year-old “Half of a Yellow Sun” author and 79-year-old Nobel Laureate.
Also on the list are Egyptian political economist Samir Amin, British-born, Ghanaian-American philosopher/writer Kwame Anthony Appiah, South African writer Nadine Gordimer, paleoanthropologist/archaeologist/zoologist Louis B. Leakey, late Kenyan human rights activist Wangari Maathai, late South African singer Miriam Makeba and late Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji.
Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieNigerian-born Adichie is the author of three novels, most recently the critically acclaimedAmericanah. The book describes the affecting journey of a Nigerian woman who takes her chances in America as an emigrant, not because of poverty or hunger in her homeland, but to escape what she calls the "oppressive lethargy of choicelessness." The book is also a penetrating discourse on what it means to be black and how views of identity differ between African Americans and American Africans. In addition to her brilliant storytelling skills, Adichie has stepped into the realm of politics with her TED talk called "We Should All Be Feminists," said to have inspired the Beyoncé song "Flawless" and various opinion pieces.
Akinwande "Wole" SoyinkaA Nigerian writer notable for his plays and poems, in 1986 Soyinka was the first African to be awarded the Nobel Prize in literature. Soyinka bases his writing on the mythology of his own Yoruba tribe and connects his plays to traditional African theater, dance, and music. Though he primarily considers himself a playwright, he has written novels and several volumes of poetry. After earning his doctorate in the United Kingdom, he worked at the Royal Court Theatre in London, where he wrote and produced plays. He later returned to Nigeria to study African drama, start an acting company, and teach literature and drama at the country's universities. For decades a strong proponent of Nigerian democracy, his works often focus on his criticism of Nigeria's many military dictators. He has been imprisoned and exiled, fleeing Nigeria in 1994 for the United States. Soyinka, who will turn 80 in July 2014, has taught at numerous U.S. universities, including Cornell, Emory, and Loyola Marymount.
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