Jacob Uwadiae Egharevba

Jakob Uwadiae Egharevba (* 1893 in Idanre , † 1980 in Benin City ) was a Nigerian author and historian who has made great contributions to the history of the Kingdom of Benin .

Egharevba was born to long-distance trade merchants from an aristocratic family in Idanre, a Yoruba principality . He changed his original first name Uwadiae to "Jacob" in 1915 after his conversion to Catholicism . He belonged to the Edo ethnic group , the state people of the Kingdom of Benin, which until the late 19th century was one of the most powerful empires in what is now Nigeria. In 1902 he moved to Benin on his father's farm. In 1914, a good 20 years after the historic catastrophe of the Kingdom of Benin, the conquest, looting and extensive destruction of Benin City, the capital of the empire by the British in 1893, he moved to this former capital and served a British colonial officer there To earn school fees.

At this time, Benin City had by no means regained its old population size and importance. Egharevba, however, experienced the magnificent coronation ceremony of an Oba , i.e. a ruler of the Benin Empire, and according to his own statements, the contradiction between this display of magnificence and the subordinate position of Benin City in the colonial world of Nigeria encouraged him to deal with the history of Benin to write.

Between 1934 and 1976 he published 35 articles and books. Most of the works dealt with the history of the Kingdom of Benin and liberated the image of this empire from the Eurocentric view that was shaped by the British colonial rulers. In addition to some European sources, he made particular use of oral traditions, which he inquired about from old people, and the statements of various traditional authorities and dignitaries of the Edo hierarchy, whom he systematically interviewed about their specialties. His works are now recognized by historians as important sources on the history of Benin. Much of his knowledge was later confirmed by European historians on the basis of written sources from European archives, which Egharevba could not be aware of at the time his works were written. His list of kings , a list of the rulers of the Kingdom of Benin, is well known . In addition, he translated folk tales from the Yoruba , but also Arabic fairy tales and fables of Aesop into the Edo language . In 1957 he went blind, but continued to write articles until 1976.

The British government awarded him the title of "honorary member of the Empire" and the University of Ibadan , the honorary doctorate .

literature

• Stefan Eisenhofer: The Origins of the Benin Kingship in the Works of Jacob Egharevba. In: History in Africa , 22, 1995, pp. 1-23
• Stefan Eisenhofer: Jacob Egharevba and the reconstruction of the history of the kingship of Benin (Nigeria) . In: Paideuma , 42, 1996, pp. 151-168
• Stefan Eisenhofer: Local historiographies in southern Nigeria and the writings of Jacob Egharevbas on the history of the Benin Empire (Nigeria) . In: Heike Behrend, Thomas Geider (ed.): Africans write back. Rüdiger Köppe, Cologne 1998, pp. 105–128
• Uyilawa Usuanlele: Jakob Uwadiae Egharevba: A pioneer of local history and keeper of the Benin traditions. In: Benin, Kings and Rituals. Court art from Nigeria. (Exhibition catalog, edited by Barbara Plankensteiner) Vienna 2007, pp. 227–233