Grace Eniola Soyinka
Born
Grace Eniola Jenkins-Harrison

1908
Died1983
NationalityNigerian
Occupation(s)Women's rights activist
businessperson
SpouseSamuel Ayodele Soyinka
Children7, including Wole Soyinka
RelativesFunmilayo Ransome-Kuti (aunt-in-law)

Grace Eniola Soyinka (née Jenkins-Harrison) (1908–1983[1]) was a Nigerian shopkeeper, activist and member of the aristocratic Ransome-Kuti family.[2][3]

She co-founded the Abeokuta Women’s Union with Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, her aunt-in-law.[2] They protested against taxes introduced by the Alake of Abeokuta, the ruler backed by the colonial authorities. They withheld the taxes, and eventually the Alake abdicated.[4] The union, which had a membership of 20,000 women, eventually evolved into the national organisation the Nigerian Women's Union.[2]

She grew up in the household of her grandfather, the clergyman and composer Josiah Ransome-Kuti. Her mother, Rev. Ransome-Kuti's first daughter, Anne Lape Iyabode Ransome-Kuti, married Mr. Jenkins-Harrison. In childhood Grace Eniola had been sent to live with her grandparents, uncles and aunts, all of whom she was very close to.[1] She is often erroneously referred to as Rev. Ransome-Kuti's daughter.[1] She married Samuel Ayodele Soyinka, an Anglican minister.[5] The second of their seven children[1] was Wole Soyinka, writer and 1986 winner of the Nobel Prize in literature. Wole Soyinka gives an account of his parents' home life and his mother’s activism in his 1981 memoir Ake: the years of childhood.[2] He called Grace "Wild Christian" in reference to her devout Anglicanism.[4]

She died in 1983, at the age of 75, but was described as very energetic into her seventies, entertaining her relatives with singing and dancing.[1]

Further reading

  • Johnson-Odim, Cheryl (January–February 2009). "'For their freedoms': The anti-imperialist and international feminist activity of Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti of Nigeria". Women's Studies International Forum. 32 (1): 51–59. doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2009.01.004. ISSN 0277-5395.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Gibbs, James (1988). "Biography into Autobiography: Wole Soyinka and the Relatives Who Inhabit 'Ake'". The Journal of Modern African Studies. 26 (3): 517–548. doi:10.1017/S0022278X00011757. JSTOR 160896.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Fargion, Janet Topp (12 January 2016). "The Ransome-Kuti Dynasty". The British Library. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
  3. ↑ "Six Things You Didn't Know About Wole Soyinka". www.calitown.com. 2013. Retrieved 2018-10-31.
  4. 1 2 "Wole Soyinka". Academy of Achievement. Washington D.C. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  5. ↑ "Samuel Ayodele Soyinka - Biographical Summaries of Notable People". www.myheritage.com. Retrieved 2018-10-31.
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