Chinua Achebe is dead
News from around the world is buzzing about the death of Prof. Chinua Achebe, one of Africa’s all time great writers.
According to the news which has been confirmed by a correspondent in Lagos, Nigeria, Prof. Achebe, 82, died last night March 21, 2013 in Boston, USA after being ill for some time.
The renowned author of ‘Things Fall Apart’ was the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and Professor of Africana Studies at Brown University, USA.
‘Things Fall Apart’, was published in 1958, and considered the most widely read book in modern African Literature. The book reportedly sold over 12 million copies and has been translated into over 50 languages worldwide.
His other works, including ‘Arrow of God’, ‘No Longer at Ease’, ‘Anthills of the Savannah’, and ‘A man of the People’.
Prof Achebe was born in Ogidi, Anambra State, on November 16, 1930.
His bestseller, ‘Things Fall Apart’, now a movie with veteran Nigerian actor Pete Edoche starring as the lead character Obi Okonkwo, was listed as one of the ‘50 Most Influential Books of the last 50 years’ by an academic group based in San Antonio, Texas, USA, known as SuperScholar in 2012.