Rajat Neogy (December 17, 1938 – December 3, 1995),Paul Theroux

''

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'', 15 January 1996, a

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

n of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n Bengali ancestry, was a writer, poet and publisher. In

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

in 1961, at the age of 22, he founded '' Transition Magazine'', which went on to become one of the most influential literary journals in Africa. In the words of

Ngugi wa Thiong'o Ngugi or Ngũgĩ is a name of Kikuyu origin that may refer to: * Ngugi wa Mirii (1951–2008), Kenyan playwright *Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (; born James Ngugi; 5January 193828May 2025) was a Kenyan author and academic, who has ...

, "he (Neogy) believed in the multi-cultural and multifaceted character of ideas, and he wanted to provide a space where different ideas could meet, clash, and mutually illuminate. ''Transition'' became the intellectual forum of the New East Africa, and indeed Africa, the first publisher of some of the leading intellectuals in the continent, including

Wole Soyinka Wole Soyinka , (born 13 July 1934) is a Nigerian author, best known as a playwright and poet. He has written three novels, ten collections of short stories, seven poetry collections, twenty five plays and five memoirs. He also wrote two transla ...

, Ali Mazrui and

Peter Nazareth Peter Nazareth (born 27 April 1940) is a British literary critic and writer of fiction and drama. Life Peter Nazareth was born in Uganda. He is of Goan descent, and his mother's family was earlier based in Malaya-Malaysia-Singapore. He was edu ...

Biography

Neogy was born and grew up in Kampala, Uganda. He studied anthropology 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 ...

in London, where he also worked as a scriptwriter for the

British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...

. After returning to Uganda in 1961, Neogy founded ''Transition'', which soon came to be considered the leading journal of free expression in Africa. In 1962, he also played a leading role in organising the influential 1962 Makerere Conference for African Writers of English Expression, which brought together African and African American writers including Ngũgĩ, J.P. Clark and

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. An early innovator of jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harl ...

. However, the success of ''Transition'' also placed Neogy under new political pressure. In 1967, it was revealed that ''Transition'' had indirectly received

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

funding through the

Congress for Cultural Freedom The Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF) was an anti-communist cultural organization founded on 26 June 1950 in West Berlin. At its height, the CCF was active in thirty-five countries. In 1966 it was revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency w ...

(CCF), a cultural body which aimed to sponsor anti-communist writing across the developing world. Neogy claimed that he had been unaware of the source of CCF funding, but he was strongly criticised by members of Uganda's ruling Obote regime. In 1968, after ''Transition'' published a long editorial critical of the Ugandan government's authoritarianism, he was charged with sedition and spent months in detention before being acquitted and released. Leaving Uganda, he moved to

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

in 1970, where he resumed publishing ''Transition'' with

taking over as editor. Neogy then settled in the United States. Neogy died aged 57 at his home in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, where he had lived for two decades.Eric Pace
"Rajat Neogy, 57, Founder of Journal on Africa"
''

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'', 11 December 1995. Born a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, Neogy would eventually convert to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, at first he wanted to do it publicly at the Kibuli mosque but his friend Ali Mazrui dissuaded him, telling him that it would be better to convert privately.

References

External links

Paul Theroux Paul Edward Theroux ( ; born April 10, 1941) is an American novelist and travel writer who has written numerous books, including the travelogue '' The Great Railway Bazaar'' (1975). Some of his works of fiction have been adapted as feature films ...

,
Rajat Neogy Remembered
''Transition'', No. 69 (1996), pp. 4–7. * Paul Theroux

''The Independent'', 15 January 1996. 1938 births 1995 deaths Ugandan male poets Ugandan people of Indian descent Ugandan people of Bengali descent 20th-century Ugandan poets 20th-century male writers {{Uganda-writer-stub Ugandan Muslims Converts to Islam from Hinduism