Dr. Michael Bazzebulala Nsimbi, MBE (March 10, 1910 – March 5, 1994) was a Ugandan teacher, poet who was considered the Father of

Ganda Ganda may refer to: Places * Ganda, Angola * Ganda, Tibet, China * Ganda, the ancient Latin name of Ghent, a city in Belgium * Ganda, a settlement in Kilifi County, Kenya Other uses * Baganda or Ganda, a people of Uganda ** Luganda or Ganda lang ...

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

, was a pioneer of

Luganda language Ganda or Luganda ( ; ) is a Bantu language spoken in the African Great Lakes region. It is one of the major languages in Uganda and is spoken by more than 5.56 million Baganda and other people principally in central Uganda, including the countr ...

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

and written forms.

Early life and education

Born in Masaka, he was educated at St. Henry's College, Kitovu, and St. Mary's College, Kisubi, and later Makerere University, where he qualified as a teacher.

Career

In the 1940s, Nsimbi produced ''Ennono z’Abaganda (The Origins of Baganda)'', a foundational work in the development of Luganda

orthography An orthography is a set of convention (norm), conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, punctuation, Word#Word boundaries, word boundaries, capitalization, hyphenation, and Emphasis (typography), emphasis. Most national ...

and

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

.Kent, Hall, Daily & Lancour (1968); ''Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science''
p. 300.
/ref> He established the Luganda Society in 1950 to preserve, popularise and promote the use of Luganda among both Baganda and non-Baganda,Buganda.com
The Luganda Society
/ref> and worked with J. D. Chesswas to produce text books for courses in the Luganda language. Chairman of the society from 1963 to 1987, Nsimbi was a driving force, together with Dr Livingstone Walusimbi, in establishing a Luganda-language curriculum for the first time at

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 ...

in 1976, the country's only university at the time. As a result, a high school curriculum was introduced in 1979, and a curriculum for the National Teachers' Colleges in 1984. In 1989 he was awarded an honorary doctoral degree (Doctor of Letters, Honoris Causa) from Makerere. Nsimbi also encouraged the revival of other local languages and cultures in the nation of Uganda. He was made an MBE in 1960, and was awarded the '' Uganda Independence Medal'' in 1963. He died on March 5, 1994, and the same year was honoured with the creation of the Dr. Nsimbi Scholarship Scheme in honour of his work in promoting Luganda language and culture.

Works

* ''ennono z’Abaganda (The Origins of Baganda)'' * ''Olulimi Oluganda'' * ''An explanation of the Standard Orthography of Luganda'' (1958, 1963), with J. D. Chesswas * ''The Kagenda series: Kitagenda ne Kagenda, Kagenda ne Banne, Kagenda ne banne bakola ki?'' * ''Omweso Mu Uganda'' (Omweso, a Game People Play in Uganda) (1969) * ''Luganda Names, Clans and Totems'' (1980) * ''Njize Okusoma Kato Ne Nnakku Ekitabo'' (1990), with J. D. Chesswas * ''Siwa Muto Lugero'' (1990) * ''Amannya Amaganda N'Ennono Zaago'' (1990) works published pseudonymously as Binsangawano: *''Bonna Baasumagira?'' *''Bwali butamanya.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nsimbi, Michael B. Ugandan writers 1910 births 1994 deaths Ganda people Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Central Region, Uganda People educated at St. Mary's College Kisubi