Shaaban bin Robert, also known as Shaaban Robert (1 January 1909 – 20 June 1962), was a Tanzanian poet, author, and essayist who supported the preservation of

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

n verse traditions. Robert is celebrated as one of the greatest Tanzanian Swahili thinkers, intellectuals and writers in East Africa and has been called "poet laureate of Swahili" and is also known as the "Father of Swahili." He is also honoured as the

national poet A national poet or national bard is a poet held by tradition and popular acclaim to represent the identity, beliefs and principles of a particular national culture. The national poet as culture hero is a long-standing symbol, to be distinguished ...

Biography

Shaaban was born to a father of Yao decent and mother of Digo heritage at village of Vibamba, Tangasisi ward of Tanga District, located south of Tanga City in

Tanga Region Tanga Region () is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions of Tanzania, regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Burundi. The regional capital is the municipalit ...

, Tanzania (then

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; ) was a German colonial empire, German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Portugu ...

). The surname Robert is a name of a British colonial officer who requested his parent to name him after him. Thus in real sense, Robert was his second name (not his surname or last name), his first name being Shaaban. Shaaban himself for a time wrote it 'Roberts' rather than 'Robert'. From 1922 to 1926 he was educated in

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

, coming in second in a class of 11 to receive the School Leaving Certificate under the then British colonial educational system in Tanganyika.

Career

After receiving the school certificate, Shaaban worked at various posts as a colonial government civil servant. From 1926 to 1944 he was a customs official at different locations throughout the territory including one post at Kwale Island in current day Mkuranga District of Pwani Region. From 1944 to 1946 he worked for the Game Department. From 1946 to 1952 he worked in the Tanga District Office, and from 1952 to 1960 he was in the Survey Office there. He worked very closely with the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) and

Julius Nyerere Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian politician, anti-colonial activist, and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika (1961–1964), Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as presid ...

. Many of his civil service experiences are woven into his writings. During his lifetime he received the Margaret Wrong Prize and Medal for African Literature and was honored by the British government as a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(M.B.E.).

Intellectual work

Robert contributed to the promotion of the

Swahili language Swahili, also known as as it is referred to endonym and exonym, in the Swahili language, is a Bantu languages, Bantu language originally spoken by the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique (along the East Af ...

and the struggle for the dignity of mankind. He was a celebrated

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

. He worked for

freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

and

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

, and was against

racial Race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 16th century, when it was used to refer to groups of va ...

and

religious discrimination Religious discrimination is treating a person or group differently because of the particular religion they align with or were born into. This includes instances when adherents of different religions, denominations or non-religions are treate ...

in Tanzania. Tanzania's first president,

, had complete admiration for the late Shaaban Robert, and greatly valued and promoted his intellectual work. His was also equally respectful of both Muslims and Christians. That is reflected in his two unusual names (Shaaban—Muslim name and Robert, a Christian name). he name Robert was in fact one of his father's several names, the others being Selemani and Ufukwe Sheikh Shaaban Robert succeeded in writing essays, books, prose and poems and some of his literature is part of school curricula and higher education reading. Some of his books included ''Maisha Yangu na Baada ya Miaka Hamsini'', ''Kusadikika'', and ''Wasifu wa Siti binti Saad''. His works are still being discovered and published. To date he has 24 known works.

Legacy

Eponyms

* Shaaban Robert Secondary School, Dar es Salaam * Shaaban Robert Street, a street in the Dar es Salaam CBD

Bibliography

* Robert, Shaaban (trans.): ''Omar Khayyam Kwa Kiswahili'' London: Macmillan, 1952, (Swahili translation of the

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam ''Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám'' is the title that Edward FitzGerald (poet), Edward FitzGerald gave to his 1859 translation from Persian language, Persian to English of a selection of quatrains (') attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131), dub ...

, translator's pref. (in Swahili) dated Tanga, 1948.) * Bin Robert, Shaaban: ''Utubora Mkulima (Diwani Ya Shaaban 8)'' Nelson, London, 1968 * Robert, Shaaban: ''Koja La Lugha'' Oxford Univ, Nairobi, 1969

References

Relevant literature

*Abdalla, Abdilatif. "Utangulizi". Shaaban Robert: Ukakiki wa Maandishi Yake. Dar es Salaam: Longman Tanzania, 1975 *Kezilahabi, Euphrase. ''Ushairi wa Shaaban Robert.'' 1976. Nairobi: Kenya Literature Bureau, 1982. *Ndulute, Clement L. ''The Poetry of Shaaban Robert''. Dar es Salaam: Dar es Salaam UP, 1994. *Rosenberg, Aaron L. "Making the case for popular songs in East Africa: Samba Mapangala and Shaaban Robert." ''Research in African Literatures'' (2008): 99–120.

External links

Shaaban Robert, Tanzania's Forgotten Hero

Shaaban Robert: A legendary poet and freedom fighter

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robert, Shaaban 1909 births 1962 deaths Tanzanian poets Swahili-language writers People from Tanga Region Members of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century poets Tanzanian Muslims