Important Historical Figures in Kenya

Important Historical Figures in Kenya

•            Wangari Maathai
•            Ngugi wa Thiong’o
•            Jomo Kenyatta
•            Catherine Ndereba
•            Richard Leakey
•            Mohamed Amin

Wangari Maathai 

Wangari Muta Maathai was born in Nyeri, Kenya on 1 April 1940. She was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree. Professor Maathai became chair of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy and an associate professor in 1976 and 1977. In both cases, she was the first woman to become those positions in the region. Wangari Maathai was the founder of the Green Belt Movement. The Green Belt Movement is an environmental organization that empowers communities, particularly women, to conserve the environment and improve livelihoods. She died on 25 September 2011.

Jomo Kenyatta

Jomo Kenyatta was born on October 20, 1893. As the first president of Kenya from 1964 to 1978, he was one of the earliest and best-known African nationalist leaders. He campaigned for land reform and African political rights. He collaborated with other African nationalist students and founded the Pan-African Federation in 1946. Kenyatta was imprisoned for being an instigator in the Mau Mau uprising, and then sent to internal exile in 1959. Kenyatta was elected president of the Kenya African National Union while in exile in 1960. He participated in negotiating a new constitution for Kenya in 1961. He died in office on August 22, 1978.