Mtoro bin Mwinyi Bakari

A study by Ludger Wimmelbuker of the life history of Mtoro bin Mwinyi Bakari (c. 1869-1927), who grew up and studied Islamic Sciences in Bagamoyo, Tanzania, and became a Swahili lecturer and author in Germany. He wrote Desturi za Wasuaheli, an important work on Swahili culture. The book introduces the wider historical context of his writings and reconstructs the racism and discrimination he faced in both the colonial and metropolitan contexts, forces that negatively influenced his career and his life as a whole. The study also offers insights into contributions of the colonised to the study of African languages and cultures during this same historical period. Ludger Wimmelbuker holds a PhD in African History from Hamburg University and is the author of Kilimanjaro: A Regional History c. 1800-1920.