Biography of Chinua Achebe                    (1930-        )

Full Name(Albert Chinua Lumogu Achebe)

Chinua Achebe was born the son of Isaiah Okafo, a Christian churchman. He was born on Nov.16, 1930 in Ogidi Nigeria. He married Christie Chinwe Okula on September 10, 1961 and now has four children, Chinew, Ikechukwu, Chidi, and Nwando. He attended Govt. College and University College. He studied broadcasting at the British Broadcasting Corp. Thirty years ago Chinua Achebe was one of the founders of his new literature cannons. He is considered by many to be one of the best novelists now writing in the English language. He has written novels, short stories, and poetry. His first novel was “Things Fall Apart” (1958). Achebe was the first Nigerian writer to successfully alter the conventions of the novel. Achebe believes that “any good story, any good novel, should have a message, should have a purpose”. After the Civil War, Achebe was appointed Senior Research fellow at the University of Nigeria.Achebe believes that “any good story, any good novel, should have a message, should have a purpose”. Achebe’s own literary language is Standard English and pidgin. Achebe became a professor of English retiring 1981. He held post as a professor of English at the University of Massachusetts. Till this day Achebe is famous for his universally acclaimed ease of writing and storytelling through some of his works. In 1990, he was injured in an auto accident, which left him paralyzed from the waist down. He resided in the U.S. fairly regularly since 1996. He always complimented the modest efforts at U.S Africa.