Hans Daniel Namuhuja (22 October 1924 – 23 July 1998) was a

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

n poet, author, and teacher. He published in

Oshindonga Ndonga, also called Oshindonga, is a Bantu dialect spoken in Namibia and parts of Angola. It is a standardized dialect of the Ovambo language, and is mutually intelligible with Kwanyama, the other Ovambo dialect with a standard written form. Wi ...

, a dialect of

Oshiwambo The Ovambo () language is a dialect cluster spoken by the Ovambo people in southern Angola and northern Namibia, of which the written standards are Kwanyama and Ndonga. The native name for the language is ''Oshiwambo'' (also written ''Oshiv ...

, and was the first author to publish poetry in this language for which before only the

Catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...

and few basic texts had been created.

Early life and education

Namuhuja was born on 22 October 1924 in Oniipa in the

Oshikoto Region Oshikoto is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, named after Lake Otjikoto. Its capital is Omuthiya. The city of Tsumeb, Otjikoto's capital until 2008, and the towns of Omuthiya and Oniipa are also situated in this region. , Oshikoto had 112, ...

. He grew up at Epale in the household of

Ondonga Ondonga is a traditional kingdom of the Ovambo people in what is today northern Namibia. Its capital is Ondangwa, and the kingdom's palace is at Onambango. Its people call themselves ''Aandonga''. They speak the Ndonga dialect. The Ondonga kingdom ...

Queen Victoria Nashikwele Kadhikwa and attended

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

at Walvis Bay and the mission school in Oniipa. After completing secondary school education at

Ongwediva Boys School Ongwediva is a town in the Oshana Region in the north of Namibia. It is the district capital of the Ongwediva electoral constituency. it had 27,000 inhabitants and covered 4,102 hectares of land. Ongwediva has seven churches, two private sch ...

he decided to become a teacher, and enrolled at

Oniipa Training School Oniipa Training School is a teacher training school in Oniipa, Namibia. It was founded in 1913. The writer Hans Daniel Namuhuja Hans Daniel Namuhuja (22 October 1924 – 23 July 1998) was a Namibian poet, author, and teacher. He published i ...

. He graduated with a Lower Teaching Certificate in 1946. Two years later he went to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

for the Higher Teaching Diploma. In 1953 he returned to

South-West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

to teach at Oniipa Training School. He became first examiner in Oshindonga, and later School Inspector for

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Ovambo people. The term originally referred to the parts of ...

. In 1963 Namuhuja went for further studies to

. He graduated with a BA (Honours) from the

University College of the North University College of the North (UCN) is a post-secondary institution located in Northern Manitoba, Canada. UCN has a student body of approximately 2,400 annually, and a staff of approximately 400. The Chancellor of UCN is Edwin Jebb. History ...

, today University of the North in 1965, becoming the first Oshindonga-speaker to obtain a university degree.

Poetry and publications

Namuhuja is the first author to publish poetry and non-fiction in Oshindonga. In the ''New Era'' weekly column "Celebrating Namibian Heroes and Heroines" his importance is described as:

Simply put, having published his first novel entitled ''Omahodhi Gaavali'' (''Parental Tears'') in 1959, makes Namuhuja one of the black Namibian pioneers in the field of literature, especially for Oshindonga language. Before the Namuhuja era, African languages in northern Namibia were restricted to the bible, catechisms and to basic numerical and literacy content. And European missionaries, who arguably most often harboured a selective appreciation and dogmatic understanding of African cultures and languages, wrote most of these.

Namuhuja published more than ten books in his lifetime. His third novel, ''Uuyuni uukwanampinyuka'' (The World does change, written in 1965) was translated into Finnish, probably the first African novel to be translated into that language. Apart from novels, he also wrote historical fiction and non-fiction, a letter writing guide, and a translation of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

''. Most of his books are used as school books in Namibia. Hans Daniel Namuhuja died in

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

on 23 July 1998. A Junior Secondary School (now Hans Daniel Namuhuja Senior Secondary School) at Oniipa and a literature trust are named after him.

References

External links

* Biography in Oshiwambo: {{DEFAULTSORT:Namuhuja, Hans Daniel Namibian poets 1998 deaths 1924 births Ovambo people People from Oshikoto Region University of Limpopo alumni 20th-century poets 20th-century Namibian writers