Thomas Mokopu Mofolo

Jade Munslow Ong (University of Salford)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 7.2.3.03: South Africa and other Southern Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Helen Rachel Cousins (Newman University), David Firth (University of Manchester)

Dates

Born 22 Dec 1876
Died 8 Sep 1948
Activity 1896-1948

Places

Born in Lesotho
Active in Lesotho; South Africa

Activities

Primary

Novelist

Resources

Thomas Mokopu Mofolo (1876-1948) is Lesotho’s most famous writer, known primarily for his 1926 novel, Chaka.

Mofolo was born in Khojane village in Mafeteng, on the 22^nd of December 1876, the third son of Protestant parents, Abner and Aleta Mofolo. [The exact date of Mofolo’s birth was not officially recorded, though this date has been consistently used by biographers and historians. Tim Couzens records that it was likely that Mofolo’s parents were Christians, though both Alfred Casalis and Herman Dieterlen claimed his parents were pagans (2005: 290).] Christianity was well established in Basutoland (now Lesotho) by the time of Mofolo’s birth, as in 1833 three members of the Paris Evangelical Missionary …

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1942 words

Citation: Munslow Ong, Jade. "Thomas Mokopu Mofolo". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 January 2014 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3145, accessed 25 November 2024.]

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