Thomas Mokopu Mofolo was a Sesotho novelist who lived from 1876 to 1948 and is often regarded as the first African novelist and the greatest author to write a novel in an African language. His body of work consists of three books composed between 1905 and 1910, first written in Sesotho and later widely translated, the best known of which, Chaka, is a fictional retelling of the rise and fall of the Zulu emperor-king Shaka.
Facts
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Original Language FAQs
Why was Thomas Mofolo's novel Chaka published so late?
The missionary press was reluctant to release it, delaying publication by around 15 years.
Chaka was Mofolo's third book, and it was suppressed. Its publication was delayed by around 15 years because the missionary press was reluctant to release it. His career as a writer was shaped by the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society, and his first two works were serialised in Leselinyana, a missionary newspaper, before they appeared in book form.
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Source Wikipedia: Thomas Mofolo
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1. Wikipedia: Thomas Mofolo
Infobox, birth_date
22 December 1876
Infobox, death_date
8 September 1948
Lead, first sentence
22 December 1876
Life
in 1948 he died in poverty
lead paragraph
His body of work, which consists of three books composed between 1905 and 1910, were first written in Sesotho, and then widely translated
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