In Memory of Professor Pius Adesanmi

The CIHA Blog joins the African Literature Association (ALA), CODESRIA, and many, many others in mourning the untimely death of the extraordinary scholar and friend, Pius Adesanmi, and in extending our sympathy to his family. We post the reflections of Co-Editor Akosua Adomako Ampofo, the ALA statement authored by CIHA Co-Editor Cilas Kemedjio, CODESRIA’s statement, and also a piece by Tope Oriola. May we at CIHA work to keep alive Professor Adesanmi’s incredible legacy.

Picture taken at Pius’ valedictory lecture at Univ. of Ghana-Legon

In Memory of Professor Pius Adesanmi

From Dr. Akosua Adomako Ampofo:

Pius Adesanmi was introduced to me by Tade Aina, a good friend who at the time was a Program Director for Higher Education at the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Carnegie had begun its work supporting Higher education in general, and what is referred to as “the Next Generation” in particular. One of Carnegie’s efforts was what they called a ‘Diaspora scholar’ support–to bring Africans in the diaspora back to the continent to support our work, including curriculum development. I was Director of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana at the time and asked Tade if he could recommend someone to assist us put together a set of courses on African thought. Tade recommended Pius, and the rest is history. We became colleagues, then he became my younger brother, and then friends. I met him in African-centred spaces all over the world, from Atlanta to Accra to Dakar. Pius indefatigable and generous spirit –accompanied by a hearty laugh– will not be forgotten. Nor can he be read in the past tense–for that spirit lives on. Dammrifa due and nante yie!

From Dr. Cilas Kemedjio on behalf of the African Literature Association

It is with sadness that I announce the passing of Professor Pius Adebola Adesamni. On behalf of the ALA family, I extend my heartfelt condolences to Late Professor Adesamni’s family. I will personally miss arguing with him, as I did the last time we met. I extend my gratitude to our Past President, Adeleke Adeeko, who has written the following statement on Professor Adesanmi’s contributions to the field of African Literature.

Pius Adebola Adesanmi: 1972-2019

African Literature Association mourns the passing away of Professor Pius Adebola Adesanmi, scholar, writer, and commentator extraordinaire.

Professor Adesanmi was on the ill-fated Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 that crashed in Bishoftu, near Addis Ababa, shortly after take-off, on Sunday, March 10, 2019. Professor Adesanmi was on the way to Nairobi, Kenya, for a committee meeting of Africa Union’s Citizens & Diaspora Directorate.

Professor Adesanmi was educated at universities in Nigeria (Ilorin and Ibadan) and Canada (British Columbia). He taught Comparative Literature at Pennsylvania State University in the United States and, later, African Literatures at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, where he was Director of Center for African Studies at the time of his passing. Professor Adesanmi served on editorial boards of many Africanist scholarly journals.

Beyond scholarship, Adesanmi wrote poetry (The Wayfarer and Other Poems), newspaper columns (Next and Sunday Tribune both in Nigeria), and popular cultural commentary (Naija No Dey Carry Last: Thoughts on a Nation in Progress) and You’re Not a Country Africa, which received the Penguin Prize for African Literature. Perhaps the most significant legacy of Professor Adesanmi is his commanding knowledge of the machinations of the short form—critical or creative—for the digital era. He was also a tireless mentor of countless students of Africanist literature and the moving spirit of many training fora for emerging scholars all over the continent, from Nairobi to Accra. In what eventually became the last of these engagements, Professor Adesanmi served as Director of the Abiola Irele Seminar in Theory and Criticism at Kwara State University, Nigeria.

African Literature Association laments the passing of a fecund, humane, and completely urbane writer, teacher, and scholar. We extend our sympathies to his family, his colleagues, and the larger community of Africanist public intellectuals.

Cilas Kemedjio
President