Gakaara Wa Wanjaũ
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Gakaara wa Wanjaũ (1921–30 March 2001) was a prolific Gĩkũyu author, historian, editor and publisher from
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
.


Biography

He was born in
Nyeri District Nyeri District was a districts of Kenya, district in the Central Province (Kenya), Central Province of Kenya. Its headquarters was in Nyeri town. It had an area of 3,356 km2. As Nyeri was established in 1901, it served as the headquarters of the N ...
, Kenya, in 1921 and attended a local primary school in colonial Kenya. He never finished high school and never received
tertiary education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...
. Nonetheless, he began a career as a writer in the mid-forties when he started documenting events in his life, albeit discreetly. Later, his books after having been banned and causing him to be arrested, were passed to be included as part of various syllabi for Gĩkũyu language instruction in the lower grades of primary school—mostly standard one, two, and three. These books mainly included children's short stories—often a collection of folk-lore. Teachers often used the popular introductory texts by writer Fred Kago titled ''Wĩrute Gũthoma'' (Foundations of Learning) for the basics and supplemented them with Gakaara's stories. Gakaara wa Wanjaũ died on 30 March 2001, and was interred in
Karatina Karatina is a town in Nyeri County, Kenya which hosts a municipal council and serves as the headquarters of Mathira East subcounty. Karatina municipality had a total population of 6,852, all classified as urban in the 1999 census It has six elect ...
. Gakaara left a personal archive of more than 7,000 pages, a large proportion of which had been composed during his detention in the 1950s. Works of Gakaara wa Wanjau are archived at the Center of African Studies Library,
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
which were sourced from the
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
Library microfilm collection of the Gakaara wa Wanjaũ papers.


Work

* ''Riũa Rĩtaanathũa'' * ''O Kĩrĩma Ngaagũa'' * ''Mageria Nomo Mahota'' * ''Ngwenda Ũũũnjurage'' * ''Marebeta Ikũmi ma wendo'' * ''Mwandiki wa Mau Mau Ithaamirio-ini'' * ''Nyĩmbo cia Mau Mau: iria ciarehithirie wiyathi: gũkũngũĩra mĩaka 25 haraambee!: Nyayo!'' * ''Uhoro wa Ugurani'' * ''Mũrutani wa thiomi ithatũ hamwe = Mwalimu wa lugha tatu pamoja = A teacher of three languages together'' * ''Mĩhĩrĩga ya aagĩkũyũ / rĩandĩkĩtwo nĩ Gakaara wa Wanjaũ''


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Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wanjau, Gakaarawa 1921 births 2001 deaths Kenyan writers People from Nyeri County Kikuyu-language writers