Chinua Achebe

1930–2013 · Nigerian (Ogidi) · Postcolonial Africa

Known for: Father of modern African literature—Things Fall Apart challenged colonial narratives worldwide

Chinua Achebe was an Igbo intellectual who grew up in colonial Nigeria and wrote Things Fall Apart (1958) to answer the racist portrayal of Africa in European literature—he called Conrad's Heart of Darkness 'an offensive and deplorable book.' Things Fall Apart has sold over 20 million copies in 50 languages.

He was gentle, principled, and politically engaged—he supported Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War and was nearly killed. He taught in the US for decades after a car accident left him wheelchair-bound. He was modest about his fame and devoted to education and mentorship.

What Chinua Achebe would be watching

The “if they lived today” Q&A on this page gives Chinua Achebe Beasts of No Nation (2015) as a favourite film. Their reason: “A difficult film about African war told from an African perspective. Progress, even if painful.” Rankquant scores it above 88% of films, drawn from 178 IMDb reviewers individually re-centred rather than averaged raw. The full film & TV rankings are built the same way.

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