Gakaara wa Wanjaũ

Gakaara wa Wanjaũ
Born	1921 Nyeri District, Kenya
Died	(2001-03-30)March 30, 2001
Resting place	Karatina
Nationality	Kenyan
Occupation(s)	Gĩkũyu author, historian, editor, publisher
Known for	contributed to the preservation of indigenous languages[1]

Gakaara wa Wanjaũ (1921–30 March 2001) was a prolific Gĩkũyu author, historian, editor and publisher from Kenya.

Biography

He was born in Nyeri District, Kenya, in 1921 and attended a local primary school in colonial Kenya. He never finished high school and never received tertiary education.^[2] Nonetheless, he began a career as a writer in the mid-forties^[3] when he started documenting events in his life, albeit discreetly.^[4]

Later, his books after having been banned and causing him to be arrested, were passed to be included as part of various syllabi for Gĩkũyu language instruction in the lower grades of primary school—mostly standard one, two, and three.^[5] These books mainly included children's short stories—often a collection of folk-lore.^[6] Teachers often used the popular introductory texts by writer Fred Kago titled Wĩrute Gũthoma (Foundations of Learning)^[7][8][9] for the basics and supplemented^[10] them with Gakaara's stories.^{[citation needed]}

Gakaara wa Wanjaũ died on 30 March 2001, and was interred in Karatina.^[11] Gakaara left a personal archive of more than 7,000 pages, a large proportion of which had been composed during his detention in the 1950s.^[12] Works of Gakaara wa Wanjau are archived at the Center of African Studies Library, University of Cambridge which were sourced from the Yale University Library microfilm collection of the Gakaara wa Wanjaũ papers.^{[note 1]}

Work

• Riũa Rĩtaanathũa
• O Kĩrĩma Ngaagũa
• Mageria Nomo Mahota
• Ngwenda Ũũũnjurage
• Marebeta Ikũmi ma wendo
• Mwandiki wa Mau Mau Ithaamirio-ini^[15]
• Nyĩmbo cia Mau Mau: iria ciarehithirie wiyathi: gũkũngũĩra mĩaka 25 haraambee!: Nyayo!^[16]
• Uhoro wa Ugurani^[17]
• Mũrutani wa thiomi ithatũ hamwe = Mwalimu wa lugha tatu pamoja = A teacher of three languages together^[18]
• Mĩhĩrĩga ya aagĩkũyũ / rĩandĩkĩtwo nĩ Gakaara wa Wanjaũ^[19]

Notes

1. 6 microfilm reels are archived at the Centre of African Studies at the University of Cambridge. Those are sourced from the Yale University Library microfilm collection of the Gakaara wa Wanjaũ papers.^[13][14]

Footnotes

1. Biersteker, Ann (1991). "East African Voice: The Wa-Nduuta Stories of Gakaara wa Wanjaũ". Research in African Literatures. 22 (4 (Winter)). Indiana University Press: 63–78. JSTOR 3820358.
2. Pugliese 1995
3. kimaniwawanjiru (2011-06-08). "GAKAARA WA WANJAU—a prolific man of letters". Retrieved 2016-10-26.
4. Elkins 2005, p. 475
5. "Mtandao wa Sanaa Kenya | Gakaara wa Wanjau". kenya.spla.pro. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
6. "Mtandao wa Sanaa Kenya | Gakaara wa Wanjau". kenya.spla.pro. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
7. F.K. Kago (1990). Wirute Guthoma: Book 1. Evans Brothers Ltd. ISBN 978-0237511715.
8. F.K. Kago (1990). Wirute Guthoma: Book 2. Evans Brothers Ltd. ISBN 978-0237511722.
9. F.K. Kago (1990-06-01). "Wirute Guthoma: Book 3". Evans Brothers Ltd. ASIN B012UTQNY0. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
10. Fred K Kago (1965). "Teacher's guide to Kamba". Longman's new Kenya language series. Longmans, Green. ASIN B0007JBEO0. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
11. "A Tribute to Gakaara wa Wanjau: A Literary and Cultural Icon Passes On", Free Media Foundation.
12. Peterson 2008.
13. "Archives and special collections". University of Cambridge. Archived from the original on 2016-10-26. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
14. Woodson, Dorothy C (Yale University); Peterson, Derek (University of Cambridge). "A Guide to the Yale University Microfilm Collection of the Gakaara wa Wanjaũ Papers". African Studies Centre Library. Archived from the original on 2016-10-26. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
15. kimaniwawanjiru (2011-06-08). "GAKAARA WA WANJAU—a prolific man of letters". Retrieved 2016-10-26.
16. Gakaara wa Wanjaũ; et al. (1988). "Nyĩmbo cia Mau Mau: iria ciarehithirie wiyathi: gũkũngũĩra mĩaka 25 haraambee! : Nyayo! / Gakaara wa Wanjaũ". Catalog, Hathi Trust Digital Library. Karatina, Kenya: Gakaara Press. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
17. Gakaara wa Wanjaũ (1994). "Uhoro wa Ugurani". The first company of writers in Kenya: the African Book Writers Ltd, Karatina, 1946-1947. Cristiana Pugliese (translator). Nairobi: French Institute for Research in Africa. pp. 6–13. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
18. Written in three languages as Gĩĩg̃ĩkũyũ, Kiswahili, and English. Gakaara wa Wanjaũ (1989). "Mũrutani wa thiomi ithatũ hamwe = Mwalimu wa lugha tatu pamoja" [A teacher of three languages together]. Karatina, Kenya: Gakaara Press.
19. Gakaara wa Wanjaũ (1998). Mĩhĩrĩga ya aagĩkũyũ / rĩandĩkĩtwo nĩ Gakaara wa Wanjaũ. Karatina, Kenya: Gakaara Press. Retrieved 2016-10-26.

Bibliography

• Pugliese, Cristiana (1995). Author, Publisher and Gĩkũyũ Nationalist: The Life and Writings of Gakaara wa Wanjaũ. Bayreuth: Bayreuth African Studies. ISBN 978-3-927510-35-7.
• Elkins, Caroline (2005). Britain's Gulag: The Brutal End of Empire in Kenya. London: Pimlico. ISBN 978-1-84413-548-6.
• Peterson, Derek R (2008). "The Intellectual Lives of Detainees". Journal of African History. 49. Cambridge University Press: 73–91. doi:10.1017/S0021853708003411.