Albert Chinualumugo Achebe, son of Isaiah Okafa and Janet N. Achebe, was born on November 16, 1930 in Ogidi, Nigeria. His parents bestowed upon him many Igbo traditions even though they were evangelical Protestants. In 1944 he attended Government College in Umuahia. He also went to University College of Ibadan which many important/major Nigerian writers attended, such as Wole Soyinka, Elechi Amadi, John Okigbo, John Pepper Clark, and Cole Omotso; while there he studied English, history and theology. At Ibadan he rejected his British name Albert and took up his real name, Chinua. Chinua lived through troubled times.

When Nigeria gained its independence from Britain in 1963, Chinua was the director of External Services in charge of the Voice of Nigeria, he also married Christie Chinwe Okoli on September 10, 1961. They now have 4 children: Chinelo, Ikechukwu, Chidi, and Nwando. During the Nigerian Civil War (1967 to 1970) which began after 2 failed negotiations, he worked...