Abdul Sheriff is a Tanzanian

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

professor of

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

at the

University of Dar es Salaam The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) (Swahili: ''Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam'') is a public university located in Ubungo District, Dar es Salaam Region, Tanzania. It was established in 1961 as an affiliate college of the University of London. ...

, member of the

Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...

Stone Town Stonetown of Zanzibar (), also known as , is the old part of Zanzibar City, the main city of Zanzibar, in Tanzania. The newer portion of the city is known as Ng'ambo, Swahili for 'the other side'. Stone Town is located on the western coast of Un ...

Advisory Board and former director of the Peace Memorial Museum (Beit al-Amani), one of the history museums of Zanzibar.

Life

Sheriff was born on December 7, 1939, on the island of

. He was able to study with scholarships of the African

Scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

Program of American Universities and the African-American Institute. He earned his

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

in 1964 as well as his

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in 1966 at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. At the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, he obtained his Ph.D. in 1971 on the basis of his research on the

history of Africa Archaic humans Out of Africa 1, emerged out of Africa between 0.5 and 1.8 million years ago. This was followed by the Recent African origin of modern humans, emergence of anatomically modern humans, modern humans (''Homo sapiens'') in East A ...

.Zanzibar Indian Ocean Research Institute
resume
/ref> Since 1969 he taught at the

university of Dar es Salaam The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) (Swahili: ''Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam'') is a public university located in Ubungo District, Dar es Salaam Region, Tanzania. It was established in 1961 as an affiliate college of the University of London. ...

. From 1977 to 1979 he led the Faculty of History as associate professor, and chaired the historical society 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 ...

. In 1980, he was appointed as full professor at the university, where he taught until 1996. Furthermore, he was visiting professor at universities in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. Sheriff's main fields of investigation have been research on the

Dhow Dhow (; ) is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with settee or sometimes lateen sails, used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Typically sporting long thin hulls, dhows are trading vessels ...

culture of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

, the history and culture of Zanzibar, and the history and conservation of

, the old city district of Zanzibar. He has published numerous books and scientific articles on his fields of investigation, notably on the economic and social history of the

Swahili coast The Swahili coast () is a coastal area of East Africa, bordered by the Indian Ocean and inhabited by the Swahili people. It includes Sofala (located in Mozambique); Mombasa, Gede, Kenya, Gede, Pate Island, Lamu, and Malindi (in Kenya); and Dar es ...

and neighbouring regions of East Africa. As museum director and member of the Zanzibar Stone Town Advisory Board, he has applied his knowledge in the restoration of the ceremonial palace of the sultan. In order to effectuate this restoration, he specially trained a local scientific team. Furthermore, he founded the House of Wonders as a national historical and cultural museum of Zanzibar and the Swahili coast. In 2005, Sheriff was honored with the Prince Claus Award from the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

for the crucial role he played in the conservation of the

cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...

of Zanzibar. The following year he was rewarded with a Zeze Award of the Tanzanian Fund for Culture, and in 2007 with the Maxwell Cummings Distinguished Lectureship of

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

Bibliography

*1987: ''Slaves, Spices & Ivory Zanzibar: Integration Of An East African Commercial'', Ohio University Press, *1991: ''Zanzibar Under Colonial Rule: Eastern African Studies'', with Ed Ferguson, Ohio University Press, *1995: ''Historical Zanzibar'', with Javed Jafferji & Ashter Chomoko, Hsp Publications, *1995: ''Zanzibar Chroniques Du Passe'', HSP Publications, *1995: ''Historical Zanzibar: Romance of the Ages'', HSP Publications, *1995: ''History & Conservation Of Zanzibar Stone Town'', Ohio University Press, *1998: ''Zanzibar stone town: an architectural exploration'', with Zarina Jafferji, Gallery Publications, ASIN B007ERZZVG *2001: ''Zanzibar Stone Town'', with Zarina Jafferji, Galley Publications, *2006: ''The Zanzibar House of Wonders Museum: Self-reliance and Partnership, A Case Study in Culture and Development'', with Paul Klooft & Mubiana Luhila, KIT Publishers Amsterdam, *2010: ''Dhow Cultures and the Indian Ocean: Cosmopolitanism, Commerce, and Islam'', KIT Publishers Amsterdam,

References

External links

*Sheriff, Abdul (2006
''Culture is the fountain of our progress ''
, The Power of Culture {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheriff, Abdul Academic staff of the University of Dar es Salaam Museum directors Historians of Africa Living people 1939 births People from Mjini Magharibi Region