Renowned Kenyan author, scholar, and activist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has died.
His family announced his passing Wednesday evening, 28th May 2025, saying he “lived a full life, fought a good fight.”
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our dad, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o,” her daughter Wanjiku wa Ngugi said in a Facebook post on Wednesday night.
“As was his last wish, let’s celebrate his life and his work. Rîa ratha na rîa thŭa. Tŭrî aira!”—a Gikuyu phrase loosely translating to “With joy and sorrow. We are proud.”
Plans for memorial services and public tributes are expected to be announced by the family in the coming days.
“The family’s spokesperson, Nducu Wa Ngugi, will announce details of his celebration of life soon,” Wanjiku said.
Ngũgĩ was 87.
A towering figure in African literature, Ngũgĩ’s influence stretched across continents, languages, and generations.
Known for novels such as A Grain of Wheat, Petals of Blood, and Devil on the Cross, Ngũgĩ championed the use of African languages in literature and resisted colonial and neocolonial systems of oppression throughout his life.
Born in 1937 in Kamiriithu, Limuru, Ngũgĩ’s work was deeply intertwined with Kenya’s struggle for independence and postcolonial identity.
In 1977, his radical play Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want), performed entirely in Gikuyu, led to his detention without trial by the Moi regime.
It marked a turning point in his career—he later abandoned writing in English altogether, opting instead to write in Gikuyu and translate into other languages.
Ngũgĩ spent decades in exile, lecturing at major universities abroad, including Yale and the University of California, Irvine.
Despite the distance, he remained tethered to Kenya through his language, activism, and unflinching critique of injustice.
Tributes have already begun pouring in from around the world. Writers, scholars, and readers are remembering him not only for his literary genius but for his unwavering commitment to truth and justice.
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is survived by his children and grandchildren, many of whom have followed in his footsteps as writers, academics, and activists.
As the world mourns, it also celebrates. As he wished, his life and legacy will not be marked by silence, but by song, stories, and the enduring power of words.
The first time I met the great prof was in front of the Kenya National Theatre and he was just reading and standing there. I almost fell in tears seeing him there. He didn’t notice me but I used to hang out at the National Theatre with friends like Njuguna Mutahi and his elder brother Wahome Mutahi. It was just fun.
The second time I met Prof. Ngugi is when he came to Toronto to meet us within the Kenya revolutionary movement at the time against the Moi dictatorship in 1990’s. The meeting was organized by our great friend the late Onyango Oloo. It was a very fruitful event where Prof. Ngugi addressed a Kenyan meeting with so many activists and also visited a centre for Africans and Black people in Toronto.
Kenyan writer and activist Ngugi wa Thiong’o wins Catalonia International Prize
He has been awarded for his “literary work and his defense of African languages”
The Kenyan writer and activist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has been awarded the 31st Catalonia International Prize given by the Catalan government, “for his distinguished and courageous literary work and his defense of African languages, based on the notion of language as culture and collective memory.”
“Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is one of the most prolific and renowned African writers,” reads the jury’s communiqué. “In all the genres he cultivates – novels, essays, memoirs, theatre – he combines the most profound African traditions with a sensitive yet merciless description of the social and political situation in his native Kenya.”
