Desmond Dudwa Phiri, commonly known as D. D. Phiri, (February 23, 1931 – March 24, 2019) was a

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

an author, economist, historian, and playwright.Phiri, D. D., ''Malawi: Our Future Our Choice'', Society of Malawi Publishing (Historic and Scientific), 2006. He was born in

Mzimba Mzimba is a town in the Mzimba District of Malawi. The district is inhabited by descendants of Tumbuka and few Ngoni people. The district of Mzimba has a number of Traditional Authorities from the Ngoni people. The head of these Traditional A ...

, Malawi, and was the Principal and proprietor of the Aggrey Memorial School in

Blantyre Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...

. He published 17 books in the fields of history, sociology and economics and was recognized by the Pan-African Writers' Association (PAWA) as one of the top 23 authors in Africa in 2011. He was a regular columnist in ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'' newspaper. He died on 24 March 2019 at Mwaiwathu Private Hospital in Blantyre

Personal life

Phiri was born on 23 February 1931 in Mzimba, Malawi. He went to Blantyre Secondary School and

Livingstonia Livingstonia or Kondowe is a town located in the Northern Region district of Rumphi in Malawi. It is north of the capital, Lilongwe, and connected by road to Chitimba on the shore Lake Malawi. History Livingstonia was founded in 1894 by mis ...

and London. He later moved to England and studied Economics, History, and Sociology at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

(part of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

). He was accorded with an honorary doctorate by the

University of Malawi The University of Malawi (UNIMA) is a public university established in 1965 and until 4 May 2021, when the university underwent a delinking, was composed of four constituent colleges located in Zomba, Blantyre, and Lilongwe. Of the four colleges, ...

Career

He worked as a diplomat in the foreign service and retired from the civil service in 1976. He was the Principal and Proprietor of Aggrey Memorial School. He was a columnist for ''

'' newspaper.

Published works

Books

Biography

*''Let Us Die for Africa: An African Perspective on the Life and Death of John Chilembwe of Nyasaland'' - 1999 *''Charles Chidongo Chinula'' - 1975 *''Dunduzu K. Chisiza'' - 1974 *''James Frederick Sangala: Founder of the Nyasaland African Congress and Bridge between Patriot John Chilembwe and Ngwazi Dr. H. Kamuzu Banda'' - 1974 *''Inkosi Gomani II: Maseko-Ngoni Paramount Chief Who Suffered Martyrdom for His People and Country'' - 1973

History

*''From Nguni to Ngoni:A History of the Ngoni Exodus from Zululand and Swaziland to Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia'' - 1982 * ''History of Malawi: From Earliest Times to the Year 1915'' - January 2004 *''History of the Tumbuka People'' - 2000 *''Democracy with a Price: The History of Malawi since 1900'' (co-authors

Bakili Muluzi Elson Bakili Muluzi (born March 17, 1943 in Machinga, Nyasaland) is a Malawian politician who was the first freely elected president of Malawi from 1994 to 2004. He was also chairman of the United Democratic Front (UDF) until 2009. He succeeded ...

, Yusuf Juwayeyi, Mercy Makhambera) - 1999

Novels (in Tumbuka language)

*''Mankhwala a Ntchito'' *''Kanakazi Kayaya'' *''Ku Msika wa Vyawaka'' *''Ulanda wa Mavunika''

Self-help

* ''Hints to Private Students'' * ''What the Achievers Teach about Success''

Essays

* ''Malawi Our Future Our Choice: The Selected Essays of D. D. Phiri'' (co-authors John Williams, Judy Williams) - 2006

Plays

*''The Chief's Bride''