Biographical Resources
Africa: a guide to reference material, by John McIlwaine. 2nd ed. Lochcarron, Scotland : Hans Zell, 2007, 608 p.
HOLLIS Record
--Lists general biographical sources (including sources on colonial history) and numerous sources by region and country.
Kirk-Greene, A.H.M. Colonial Service biographical data: the published sources. African Research and Documentation, no. 46 (1988), pp. 2-16.
Collective Biography
Dictionary of African biography, ed. by Emmanuel K. Akyeampong and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Oxford; NY: Oxford University Press, 2012, 6 v. Print -- Online
The Anglo-African who's who and biographical sketch-book. (1905, 1910)
Google Books version (1905) - Online version (1907) - HOLLIS record
The making of modern Africa: a guide to archives, by Chris Cook. NY: Facts on File, 1995, 218 p.
Widener | WID-LC | DT20.Z99 C66 1995x
Lists over 1000 persons, circa 1878-1980s, for whom papers are preserved. Entries include birth/death dates and very brief note on subject’s career together with locations and brief descriptions for surviving papers. Largely Europeans, but some Africans included. Brief terminal bibliography. Archive index lists persons under repository name. Subject index.
Les Africains / sous la direction de Charles-Andr_ Julien ... [et al.].Paris : Éditions J.A., 1977-78
Widener | WID-LC | DT18 .A64
Includes 131 biographies (about 30 pp.each) from Antiquity to the 20th century. Articles with portraits and references, often including periodical articles. Strongest on North Africa. Chart at end of v. 12 arranges biographees by era and geography.
Dictionary of African historical biography, by Mark R. Lipschutz & R. Kent Rasmussen. 2nd ed., expanded and updated. Berkeley : University of California Press, 1987, 328 p.
Widener | RR 1870.10
Provides biographical information and brief source lists for major figures, primarily political, from Africa south of the Sahara from the earliest period to the 1980s. Besides updating and revising many of the entries in the 1st ed. (1978), the authors have included African leaders, 1960-80, in a supplement, pp. 258-290. Includes a bibliography of secondary sources, a subject index, and a name index. Indexed in biography and genealogy master index. Full text in African biographical archive.
Who's Who in Africa: leaders for the 1990s, by Alan Rake. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1992.
LOCATION: Widener: RR 1670.13
--Full text in African biographical archive.
Makers of modern Africa. London, England : Published by Africa Journal Ltd. for Africa Books Ltd., 1981- v. : ill. ; (( Know Africa ) )
Widener | RR 1870.5 Latest
Widener | WID-LC | DT18 .M34x Earlier
Third edition has about 640 biographies of living and deceased persons with portraits. Some biographies in the second edition have been dropped. 1st ed. 1981, 2nd ed. 1991, 3rd ed. 1996. Full text of 1981, 1991 eds. in African biographical archive.
Núñez, Benjamín. 1995-96. Dictionary of Portuguese-African civilization. London; New Jersey : Hans Zell Publishers, 2 v.
Location : Widener WID-LC DT352.4 .N86 1995x
Incomplete contents : v. 1. From discovery to independence -- v. 2 From ancient kings to presidents.
Thorough coverage of Portugal’s African colonies (Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, and São Tomé) and of Portuguese activities in Ethiopia, Kenya, Madeira, the Azores, and North Africa. Vol. 1 covers organizations, places, and topics ; vol. 2 is a biographical dictionary. Paragraph-length articles. Each article cites a source from the terminal bibliography in each vol. Vol. 2 includes over 2000 persons. Discussion of errors in R. A. H. Robinson’s and M. Newitt’s reviews in African Affairs (Vol. 96, No. 382 (Jan., 1997), pp. 124-127)
Shavit, David. The United States in Africa : a historical dictionary. New York:: Greenwood Press, 1989. 298 p.
Widener | WID-LC | DT38.1 .S53 1989
Largely a biographical dictionary of Americans of all occupations in Africa. Includes lists of biographees by area of activity and of Chiefs of American diplomatic missions in Africa, 1863-1986. Index.
Historical dictionary of women in Sub-Saharan Africa, by Kathleen E. Sheldon. Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2005 405 p.
HOLLIS Record
Contemporary
Africa who's who. London: Published by Africa Journal Ltd. for Africa Books, 1981- (Know Africa)
Widener | WID-LC | CT1920 .A33x
Latest (1996) ed. offers biographical sketches on about 14,000 Africans from all nations and professions. Eds.: 1996, 1991, 1981. Full text of 1991 ed. in African biographical archive.
An earlier effort under the auspices of Africa journal was the Africa year book and who's who (1st ed., London : Africa Journal, 1976), which included a biographical section with about 2500 entries.
Africa South of the Sahara. London, Europa Publications Ltd. (Regional surveys of the world) 1971-1982/83
Widener | RR 4370.30 = Latest
Widener | Afr 1.118 = Earlier
Includes “Who’s who in Africa South of the Sahara” section, containing about 900 entries per vol. Full text of eds. 1-4, (1971-1974), 6 (1976-77), 11 (1981-1982) in African biographical archive. Eds. 8 (1978-79) - 12 (1982-83) indexed in Biography and genealogy master index.
West Africa (By Country)
Benin
Collective Biography
Dictionnaire bio-bibliographique du Dahomey. [Porto-Novo]: Institut de Recherches Appliquees du Dahomey, I.R.A.D., 1969-
LOCATION: Widener: Harvard Depository Afr 5353.2 Library has: v. 1
Biographies, with lists of works and sometimes references, of 100 deceased and living persons, native and foreign, from the 17th century to the present. Further volumes apparently never published. Full text in African biographical archive.
Cote d'Ivoire
Cote d'Ivoire: 100 homes de pouvoir. Indigo publications. 1ere ed. (1996)- [Paris]: Indigo Publications, 1960-
LOCATION: Widener: Harvard Depository CT2463.V4x
Political who’s who. Appendixes list government officials by dept., national organizations, and political party. Detailed name index.
Les Elites ivoiriennes. 3e ed. Paris: Ediafric, 1982.
LOCATION: Widener: WID-LC DT545.82.A2 E43 x, 1982 F
--2nd, 1978; 1st, 1976 (1st and 2nd both Numéro spécial du Bulletin de l'Afrique noire and subtitled: Who's who in Ivory Coast).
Ghana
Contemporary
Ghana who's who. Accra, Bartels Publications (Ghana) Ltd. v. illus.
Widener | WID-LC | DT510.A1 G48 --In African Biographical Archive
Mali
Collective Biography
Konare Ba, Adam. Dictionnaire des femmes celebres du Mali: des temps mythico-legendaires au 26 mars 1991. Bamako, Mali: Editions Jamana, 1993.
LOCATION: Widener: Harvard Depository CT3760.K66 1993
Biographies of about 340 women, living and deceased, from ancient times to the present. In chapters by area of activity with name index. Includes essay on women in Mali and appendixes with lists of organizations, etc.
Niger
Collective Biography
El_ments pour un dictionnaire biographique du Tchad et du Niger (T_da et Daza) / par Albert Le Rouvreur, avec la collaboration de Paule Deville et Joseph Tubiana. Paris : Éditions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique, 1978. 48 p. (Contributions _ la connaissance des _lites africaines ; fasc. 1 )
Widener | Harvard Depository | DT18 .C66x fasc.
About 100 biographies, often very brief and without dates. Cross-references for variant name forms. Name and population group index. Full text in African biographical archive.
Nigeria
Bibliography
National Library of Nigeria. A bibliography of biographies and memoirs on Nigeria. Lagos, 1968. 11 p. (National Library publications 9 )
Widener | Harvard Depository| Afr 6203.22
Lists 143 works, including travel accounts. Alphabetical by biographer, not biographee. No index.
Collective Biography
Eminent Nigerians of the twentieth century, by C. O. O.Ugowe. Lagos : Hugo Books; Ibadan, Nigeria : Ebony Bookmakers, 2000, 331 p.
WID-LC DT551 .U44 2000
Includes 42 deceased Nigerians (no Europeans) of wide range of occupations.
Eminent Nigerians of the nineteenth century, a series of studies originally broadcast by the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. Cambridge, University Press, 1960, 97 p.
Widener | Afr 6298.60
People in the news, 1900-1999 : a survey of Nigerians of the 20th century / [Bayo Onanuga, editor in chief]. Lagos, Nigeria : Independent Communications Ltd., 2000, 498 p.
Widener | WID-LC | CT2526 .P46 2000
Biographies, with photographs, of 100 living and deceased Nigerians from many occupations. Appendix of about 125 additional paragraph-length biographies without photographs.
Contemporary
Who’s who in Nigeria / ed. by P. Ishaka. 2nd ed. Lagos, Nigeria : NIBC, 2003.
Old Widener RR 1684.15.5
Over 5000 biographies from a wide range of occupations, with 1500 new in 2nd ed. The terminal Unforgettables section gives biographies of about 100 deceased, largely 20th century, Nigerians, including some dying since 1999. 1st ed.: The new who's who in Nigeria (1999).
Other Nigerian who’s whos include:
Who's who in Nigeria, by Bankole Makinde. Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria : Newswatch, 2nd ed. 2001, 1387 p. --Over 4000 entries; 1st ed., 1990 HOLLIS Record
2000 foremost Nigerians, ed. by Olugbemi Fatula. Ibadan, Nigeria : Caltop Publications (Nigeria) Ltd. ; Ile-Ife, Nigeria : UNIFECS, Obafemi Awolowo University, 2 v. 2000, 2002
HOLLIS Record
--The two published volumes of this projected series cover 200 and 100 living persons from a wide range of occupations. Vol. 1 has portraits, vol. 2 not. No contact information.
Who's who in Nigeria; a biographical dictionary. 2d ed. Apapa, Nigeria, Printed by Times Press, 1971, 232 p.
WID-LC CT2523 .W48 1971
Has about 1350 largely political entries in 1983 ed. (WID-LC CT2522 .W56x 1983). Earlier eds. (1971, 1956) are less political.
Biographia Nigeriana: a biographical dictionary of eminent Nigerians, by S. A. Orimoloye. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1977, 368 p.
WID-LC CT2526 .O74
--Includes about 1100 entries with some emphasis on academics (full text in African biographical archive).
Additional who’s whos available.
Sierra Leone
Contemporary
Who's who in Sierra Leone. [1981 ed.] [Freetown? : Lyns Publicity, 1981] 108 p. Widener | Harvard Depository | CT2446 .W48 1981 --The 1981 ed. (latest published?) contains approximately 250 short entries.
Sierra Leone year book. Freetown: Daily Mail Publication, 1956-78
Widener | WID-LC | DT516.A2 S5 --Includes a who’s who section.