Ciarunji Chesaina (born 1947) is a Kenyan folklorist, professor, and diplomat. She is best known for her work studying the history, ethnography, and folklore of peoples across Africa, particularly among the

Nilotic The Nilotic peoples are peoples Indigenous people of Africa, indigenous to South Sudan and the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan and the Gambela Region of Ethiopia, while also being a large minority in Kenya, Uga ...

and

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...

groups. She also represented Kenya as the high commissioner to South Africa from 2000 to 2003.

Biography

Ciarunji Chesaina was born Jane Ciarunji Geteria in 1947. She attended

Alliance Girls High School Alliance Girls' High School (AGHS) is a public national boarding school for girls located near the small town of Kikuyu in Kiambu County, 20 km from Nairobi. Founded in 1948 by Alliance of protestors mission.it is within walking distance fro ...

Kikuyu Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language. It may also refer to: *Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya * Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people *Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Cen ...

, Kenya. Chesaina graduated from Uganda's

Makerere University Makerere University (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922, and the oldest currently active university in East Africa. It became an independent national university in ...

with a bachelor's degree in French and English in 1971. She subsequently studied in the United States, where she received a master's in education from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, and in the United Kingdom, where she obtained a Ph.D. in literature from the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

in 1988. Chesaina lectured at

Kenyatta University Kenyatta University (KU) is a public university with its main campus in Nairobi, Kenya. It acquired the status of university in 1985, being the third university after University of Nairobi (1970) and Moi University (1984). As of October 2014, it ...

beginning in the 1970s, then joined the faculty of the

University of Nairobi The University of Nairobi (uonbi or UoN; ) is a college, collegiate research university based in Nairobi and is the largest List of universities and colleges in Kenya, university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution dat ...

in 1991. She teaches literature, particularly African literature, women's literature, and oral literature. Since the 1970s, she has been influential in helping engrain Kenyan literature in the nation's education system. As a folklorist, she has contributed significantly to the study of various African ethnic groups, in particular the

Kalenjin people The History of the Kalenjin people, Kalenjin is a group of tribes indigenous to East Africa, residing mainly in what was formerly the Rift Valley Province in Kenya and the eastern slopes of Mount Elgon in Uganda. They number 6,358,113 individu ...

and

Embu people The Embu or Aembu (sometimes called Waembu) are a Bantu people indigenous to Embu county . The region is situated on the southern slopes of Mount Kenya in the former Eastern province. To the West, Embu neighbours the Kikuyu, The Meru people ...

. She has also advocated in favor of compensating

oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...

research subjects for their participation. Chesaina temporarily left her post at the University of Nairobi for three years, from 2000 to 2003, to serve as Kenya's high commissioner to South Africa. In 2018, she published an autobiography titled ''Run Gazelle Run''.

Selected works

* ''Oral Literature of the Kalenjin'' (1991) * ''Perspectives on Women in African Literature'' (1994) * ''Hope on the Horizon: Essays on the Status and Liberation of African Women'' (1994) * ''Pokot'' (1996) * ''Oral Literature of the Embu and Mbeere'' (1997) * ''Teaching of African Literature in the 21st Century'' (editor, 2009) * ''The Significance of Oral Literature in Children's Development: Social & Psychological Issues'' (2009) * ''Run Gazelle Run'': ''An Autobiography'' (2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chesaina, Ciarunji 1947 births Living people Kenyan women writers Academic staff of Kenyatta University Kenyan historians Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni Academic staff of the University of Nairobi Alumni of the University of Leeds Alumni of Alliance Girls High School