Gabriel Ruhumbika (born 1938) is a Tanzanian novelist, short story writer, translator and academic. His first novel, ''

Village in Uhuru Gabriel Ruhumbika (born 1938) is a Tanzanian novelist, short story writer, translator and academic. His first novel, '' Village in Uhuru'', was published in 1969. He has written several subsequent novels in Swahili. He has also taught literature a ...

'', was published in 1969. He has written several subsequent novels in Swahili. He has also taught literature at a number of universities, and is currently a professor of Comparative Literature at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

in the USA.

Early life

Ruhumbika was born in 1938 on

Ukerewe Island Ukerewe is the fifth-largest lake island in the world. With an area of , it is also the largest island in Lake Victoria and the largest lake island in Africa. Ukerewe Island is located in the Ukerewe District of Mwanza Region in the great lak ...

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...

. After studying for an undergraduate degree at the

Makerere University Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of ni ...

in Uganda, he completed a PhD in African literature at the

University of Paris-Sorbonne Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; french: Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV) was a public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the Universit ...

in France.

Career

Ruhumbika's first novel, ''

'', was published in 1969; this was the second English-language Tanzanian novel, after

Peter Palangyo Peter K. Palangyo (1939 - 18 January 1993) was a Tanzanian novelist and diplomat. His reputation rests on a single novel, ''Dying in the Sun'' (1968), which is considered by many to be one of the most compelling works of modernism in African writi ...

's Dying in the Sun (1968). This is a historical novel, based on real events relating to questions of ethnic and national identity in the context of the

Tanganyika African National Union The Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) was the principal political party in the struggle for sovereignty in the East African state of Tanganyika (now Tanzania). The party was formed from the Tanganyika African Association by Julius Nyerere ...

's struggles for sovereignty in

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

(now Tanzania). Although ''Village in Uhuru'' was written and first published in English, Ruhumbika decided to write all of his subsequent novels in Swahili, a decision similar to that of Kenyan writer

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (; born James Ngugi; 5 January 1938) is a Literature of Kenya, Kenyan author and academic who writes primarily in Gikuyu language, Gikuyu and who formerly wrote in English language, English. He has been described as having bee ...

. His Swahili-language novels, which mainly cover the

Pan-African Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...

Uhuru Movement The Uhuru Movement (Pronounced is the Swahili word for "freedom") is an American-based socialist and African internationalist movement founded in 1972 and led by the African People's Socialist Party (APSP), whose chairman is Omali Yeshitela. I ...

, include ''Miradi Bubu ya Wazalendo'' (''Invisible Enterprises of the Patriots'', 1991) and ''Janga Sugu la Wazawa'' (''Everlasting Doom for the Children of the Land'', 2002). He also wrote a collection of short stories, ''Uwike Usiwike Kutakuche'' (''Whether the Cock Crows or Not It Dawns''). Outside of his own writings, he has worked as a translator, mainly from French to Swahili, although he also translated

Aniceti Kitereza Aniceti Kitereza (1896–1981) was a Tanzanian Catholic cleric and novelist, born in 1896 on the island of Ukerewe, in Lake Victoria, in modern Tanzania. In 1945, he wrote the first novel in his native language, Kikerewe. Only in 1981, it was pub ...

's novel ''Myombekere and His Wife Bugonoka, Their Son Ntulanalwo, and Daughter Bulihwali'' from Kikerewe into English. Ruhumbika is a descendant of Kitereza and had unique access to the Kitereza’s manuscripts and diaries. Ruhumbika has also taught literature at various universities, in both Africa and the USA. He has lectured at the

University of Dar es Salaam The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) is a public university in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It was established in 1961 as an affiliate college of the University of London. The university became an affiliate of the University of East Africa (UEA) in 1 ...

(from 1970 to 1985) and

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association af ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

(from 1985 to 1992). Since 1992, he has been a Professor of Comparative Literature at the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruhumbika, Gabriel Tanzanian novelists 1938 births University of Georgia faculty Makerere University alumni English-language writers from Tanzania Swahili-language writers University of Paris alumni People from Mwanza Region Living people