Nationality South African Name Peter Abrahams | Role Novelist | |
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Born 3 March 1919Vrededorp, South Africa ( 1919-03-03 ) Occupation Novelist, journalist, political commentator Books Mine Boy, The path of thunder, Tell Freedom: Memories, The Black experience in the 20t, The Coyaba Chronicle | ||
Professor peter abrahams discusses his book imaging atlas of human anatomy 4th ed
Peter Henry Abrahams Deras (3 March 1919 – 18 January 2017), commonly known as Peter Abrahams, was a South African-born Jamaican novelist, journalist and political commentator.
Contents
- Professor peter abrahams discusses his book imaging atlas of human anatomy 4th ed
- BookQuester Behind the CurtainEcho Falls 2
- Life and career
- Works
- Music inspired by his works
- References
[BookQuester] 'Behind the Curtain(Echo Falls #2)'
Life and career
Abrahams was born in 1919 in Vrededorp, a suburb of Johannesburg; his father was from Ethiopia and his mother was Coloured. In 1939 Abrahams left South Africa, and worked first as a sailor, and then as a journalist in London.
Hoping to make his way as a writer, he faced considerable challenges as a South African, as Carol Polsgrove has shown in her history, Ending British Rule: Writers in a Common Cause (2009). Despite a manuscript reader's recommendation against publication, in 1942 Allen & Unwin brought out his Dark Testament, made up mostly of pieces he had carried with him from South Africa. Publisher Dorothy Crisp published his novels Song of the City (1945) and Mine Boy (1946). According to Nigerian scholar Kolawole Ogungbesan, Mine Boy became "the first African novel written in English to attract international attention." More books followed with publication in Britain and the United States: two novels —The Path of Thunder (1948) and Wild Conquest (1950); a journalistic account of a return journey to Africa, Return to Goli (1953); and a memoir, Tell Freedom (1954).
While working in London, Abrahams lived with his wife Daphne in Loughton. He met several important black leaders and writers, including George Padmore, a leading figure in the Pan-African community there, Kwame Nkrumah of the Gold Coast and Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, both later heads of state of their respective nations. In 1956, Abrahams published a roman à clef about the political community of which he had been a part in London: A Wreath for Udomo. His main character, Michael Udomo, who returns from London to his African country to preside over its transformation into an independent, industrial nation, appeared to be modelled chiefly on Nkrumah with a hint of Kenyatta. Other identifiable fictionalized figures included George Padmore. The novel concluded with Udomo's murder. Published the year before Nkrumah took the reins of independent Ghana, A Wreath for Udomo was not an optimistic forecast of Africa's future.
Abrahams settled in Jamaica in 1956. In 1994 he was awarded the Musgrave Gold Medal for his writing and journalism by the Institute of Jamaica.
One of South Africa's most prominent writers, his work deals with political and social issues, especially with racism. His novel Mine Boy (1946), one of the first works to bring him to critical attention, and his memoir Tell Freedom (1954) deal in part with apartheid. His other works include the story collection Dark Testament (1942) and the novels The Path of Thunder (1948), A Wreath for Udomo (1956), A Night of Their Own (1965), the Jamaica-set This Island Now (1966, the only one of his novels not set in Africa) and The View from Coyaba (1985).
Abrahams was found dead at his home in Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica, on 18 January 2017, aged 97. A forensic examination showed that Abrahams was a victim of foul play. A local 61-year-old man, Norman Tomlinson, was later charged with murder. Court proceedings are to start in the beginning of March after a delay due to a lengthy power outage in the court house.