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 Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...

. He has also taught literature at a number of universities, and is currently a professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Georgia in the USA.

Early life

Ruhumbika was born in 1938 on Ukerewe Island in

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 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, '' Village in Uhuru'', 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'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

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 (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 ...

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

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