Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian novelist, non-fiction writer, short story writer and actress. A veteran Nigerian writer, she has been called “the most prominent” in a “procession of critically acclaimed young Anglophone writers who manage to attract a new generation of readers to African literature”.
She has made Nigeria proud on the global scene with her various performances of rare quality. You must have heard of this lady of substance, but I bet there’s a lot of things you never know about her. Read on to find them all!
Chimamanda Adichie’s Biography
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born to Igbo parents, Grace Ifeoma and James Nwoye Adichie on September 15, 1977 in Enugu, Nigeria. While her family’s hometown is Abba, Anambra State, she grew up in Nsukka in the home of Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe.
The fifth of James Adichie’s six children, Chimamanda’s original and initial inspiration came from Chinua Achebe. After reading Prof. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart at the age of 10, Adichie was inspired to see her own life portrayed in the pages.
She once said, “I noticed that people were looking at how I could live in books. “It is with this inspiration that Adichie has written about the Nigerian experience throughout her career. As previously mentioned, she grew up in the home that was once the home of great icon and author Chinua Achebe. This may also have contributed to her motivation and passion for writing.
training
Chimamanda completed her secondary education at the University of Nigeria Secondary School, which received several academic awards. She then went on to study Medicine and Pharmacy at the University of Nigeria, but only led the program for a year and six months. During this time she edited The Compass , a journal for the university’s Catholic medical students.
At the age of 19, she received a scholarship to study Communication and Political Science at Drexel University in Philadelphia, USA. After a while, she transferred to Eastern Connecticut State University to be with her sister Ijeoma, who had a medical practice in Coventry.
Adiche received a bachelor’s degree from EasternConnecticut, graduating summa cum laude in 2001, and received a master’s degree in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University in 2003. Later in 2008 she received a Master of Arts in African Studies from Yale University.
family
After encountering Chimamanda’s family members, we were convinced that they have brilliance and strong intelligence in their blood. Chimamanda’s father, James, who is now retired, worked at the University of Nigeria at Nsukka. He was Nigeria’s first professor of statistics and later became the university’s deputy vice-chancellor.
Her mother Ifeoma was the first female registrar at the same institution. Adichie’s grandfather died in a refugee camp during Nigeria’s civil war (1967-1970). The Civil War experiences and other things really affected her life and of course her writing style.
Adichie’s mother was always very concerned about her appearance and instilled the same value in all her children. Chimamanda’s known sisters are Ijeoma and Uche while some of her cousins are Ogechukwu, Chisom and Amaka whom she mentioned in one of her articles entitled “My Fashion Nationalism”.
Is Chimamanda Adichie married?
Chimamanda is actually with Dr. Ivara Esegee, a blended medical practitioner currently working in Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
Dr. Esegee, whom Adichie describes as Nigerian, American and British, lived in the United Kingdom before immigrating to the United States. His father was from old Cross River State (Abi Local Government Area to be precise) while his mother was Scottish. He lost both in a car accident in the 1980s.
Dr. Ivara is a graduate of Medicine from the University of Nigeria School of Medicine. He is one of over 100 physicians at the University of Maryland Medical Center specializing in family medicine.
Like his charming wife, he was awarded jointly and severally for his contribution to the field of medicine. They include; Diabetes Recognition Program (by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013), Physician Practice Recognition Program (by the National Committee for Quality Assurance – 2012, 2013) and Patient-Centered Medical Home Recognition Program (National Committee for Quality Assurance, 2012, 2013).
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Dr. Ivara’s marriage is blessed with a beautiful daughter who arrived in 2015. Unlike her mother, who grew up in Nigeria, Chimamanda’s daughter, whose name is unknown to the media, is growing up quickly in two cultures and could potentially face slightly different social expectations.
Fast facts on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Adichie is married but prefers to be addressed as “Miss”. It does not occur to many people that this great woman is married. This can be attributed to the strange fact that she never dropped her maiden name, nor did she attach her husband’s name to it. She openly warned journalists about this for some time, stressing that it is Western culture for a woman to give up her name for her husband’s.
- She insists that everyone should be a feminist. She said so in one of her prestigious lectures in 2012.
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie consciously transforms into a fashion icon. When Adichie first emerged on the US writing scene, she tried to dress more demurely in order to be taken seriously, but soon realized that her personal style had the right to assert itself. She once suggested that living in America has prompted her to make a conscious effort to have an identity that is reflected in her fashion sense.
- Chimamanda lives in Lagos and the United States. She loves Lagos so much that’s why she spends half her time there and the rest in the US. She loves the culture and spirit of the city, the resilience and initiative of the people.
- When she visits Nigeria, she usually organizes writing workshops to give back to Nigeria.
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is an LGBTQ rights activist. She has campaigned for them in her country and beyond.
- In 2015, she was listed as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People.
- Adichie’s Feminist Talk and Commonwealth 2012 ‘Connecting Cultures’ talk launched American singer-songwriter-dancer-actress Beyonce. It was titled “Flawless” and published a book.
Collections and Awards
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is the author of three novels, Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half a Yellow Sun (2006) and Americanah (2013). She also wrote a collection of short stories, The Thing Around Her Neck (2009).
Her work has been translated into thirty languages and published in various publications including The New Yorker, Granta, The O. Henry Prize Stories, the Financial Times and Zoetrope.
Her novel Purple Hibiscus won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and Half of a Yellow Sun won the Orange Prize and was named a National Book Critics Circle finalist, a New York Times book finalist, and a People and Black book critic Issues as best book of the year.
Her latest novel Americanah was published worldwide in 2013 and has received numerous awards including the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Fiction; and being recognized as one of the New York Times’ top ten books of the year.
With a critical analysis of her work, it was discovered that the greatest power and skill she wields is her ability to create characters. She is indeed a creator of characters who struggle to understand their place in the world.
Her novel Half a Yellow Sun derives its name from the Biafran flag and has a film adaptation. While the novel is set before and during the Biafran War, and its title reflects the flag of the short-lived independent nation, the Biyi Bandele-directed film adaptation is set with Chiwetel Ejiofor (lead in ’12 Years a Slave’) and Thandie Newton.
She has received numerous prizes and awards. In addition to the above, she was honored with a grant from the MacArthur Foundation in 2008. In 2011/2012, Chimamanda also received a scholarship from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.
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