{"id":15872,"date":"2023-10-25T11:02:52","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T11:02:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/presspay.ng\/news\/?p=15872"},"modified":"2023-10-25T11:02:57","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T11:02:57","slug":"education-profile-of-prof-wole-soyinka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/presspay.ng\/news\/education-profile-of-prof-wole-soyinka\/","title":{"rendered":"Education Profile of Prof. Wole Soyinka"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka popularly known as Wole Soyinka born July 13, 1934, in\u00a0Abeokuta, Nigeria. He is a Nigerian playwright, poet, novelist\u00a0 and political activist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1940, after attending St. Peter’s Primary School in Abeokuta, Soyinka went to\u00a0Abeokuta Grammar School<\/a>, where he won several prizes for literary composition.\u00a0In 1946 he was accepted by\u00a0Government College<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Ibadan<\/a>, at that time one of Nigeria’s elite secondary schools. After finishing his course at Government College in 1952, he began studies at\u00a0University College Ibadan<\/a>\u00a0(1952\u201354), affiliated with the\u00a0University of London<\/a>.\u00a0He studied\u00a0English literature<\/a>,\u00a0Greek<\/a>, and\u00a0Western history<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Prof. Wole Soyinka<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Later in 1954, Soyinka relocated to\u00a0England<\/a>, where he continued his studies in English literature, under the supervision of his mentor\u00a0Wilson Knight<\/a>\u00a0at the\u00a0University of Leeds<\/a>\u00a0(1954\u201357). After graduating with an upper second-class degree, Soyinka remained in\u00a0Leeds<\/a>\u00a0and began working on an MA.\u00a0He intended to write new works combining European theatrical traditions with those of his\u00a0Yor\u00f9b\u00e1 cultural heritage<\/a>. His first major play,\u00a0The Swamp Dwellers<\/em>\u00a0(1958), was followed a year later by\u00a0The Lion and the Jewel<\/a><\/em>, a comedy that attracted interest from several members of London’s\u00a0Royal Court Theatre<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof. Soyinka was awarded the\u00a0Nobel Prize for Literature<\/a>\u00a0in 1986,\u00a0becoming the first African laureate. He was described as one “who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, he received the Special Prize of the\u00a0Europe Theatre Prize<\/a>, in\u00a0Rome<\/a>. The Prize organization stated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Special Prize is awarded to Wole Soyinka, writer, playwright and poet, Nobel Prize for literature in 1986, who with his work has been able to create an ideal bridge between Europe and Africa (…) With his art and his commitment, Wole Soyinka has contributed to a renewal of African cultural life, participating actively in the dialogue between Africa and Europe, touching on more and more urgent political themes and bringing, in English, richness and beauty to literature, theatre and action in Europe and the four corners of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below are some of the Honors conferred on Prof. Wole Soyinka for his outstanding work;<\/p>\n\n\n\n