Shaaban Robert

Shaaban Robert was born on 1 January 1909 in a village in the Tanga region, in what was then German East Africa. An employee of the colonial administration, in the customs and then in other services, he wrote all his life in Swahili, at a time when English was the only language recognised by the school. A poet, essayist, novelist and autobiographer, he defended Swahili as a language capable of carrying modern thought, received the Margaret Wrong Medal for African literature, and his country regards him as its national poet. He died on 20 June 1962 in Dar es Salaam.

In the catalogue 1

• NovelKusadikika: A Country in the SkyKusadikika, nchi iliyo anganiShaaban Robert · 1951Literature