Prof. Godfrey Muriuki

The death has occurred of Professor Godfrey Muriuki in Nyeri on 15 October 2026. He was an eminent historian and a Professor at the University of Nairobi. He belonged to the pioneering generation of African historians who challenged colonial assumptions that Africa possessed neither a meaningful past nor the intellectual resources to interpret it. Education 1947 - 1952 Ngorano Primary School. 1953-1958 Government African School, Kagumo, Overseas Cambridge School Certificate. First Division. 1959-1964 Makerere University College, Kampala, Uganda, B.A. (Honours) in History. 1966 - 1969 School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Ph.D. in African History. Experience January-June, 1959 Teacher, Mweiga Primary School, Nyeri. March - May, 1960 Research Assistant, Marketing Research Co. of East Africa, Nairobi. March-May, 1961 Chief Officer, Prisons Department, Kenya. March-May, 1962 Tutor in History and English, Tumutumu Teachers Training College, Nyeri. March-May, 1963 Teacher (History, Geography, English), Kagumo Secondary School, Nyeri. March-June, 1964 Assessor Trainee, E.A. Income Tax Department, Nairobi July, 1964- History Tutor, College of Social Studies, Kikuyu, September, 1966 University College, Nairobi. January, 1970- Lecturer, Department of History, University of Nairobi. July, 1973- Senior Lecturer, Department of History, February, 1979 University of Nairobi. March, 1975- Chairman, Department of History, December, 1989 University of Nairobi. August-December, Visiting Professor in African History, Stanford University, 1977 California, U.S.A. January-June, Visiting Scholar, School of Oriental and African Studies, 1978 University of London. February, 1979- Associate Professor, Department of History, August, 1987-2018 Professor of History, University of Nairobi. March, 1990-1995 Director, Board of Common Undergraduate Courses, University of Nairobi. 1990-1991 Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman University), Kirksville, Missouri, U.S.A. 1994 Rockfeller Foundation Visiting Research Professor, Institute of Historical Research, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa. 1995 Special Student Advisor 1996 Visiting Professor, St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York, Kenya Semester Programme Chairman of the History Department at the University of Nairobi; Dean of the Faculty of Arts from 1985 to 1989, and Special Student Advisor from 1990 until his retirement in 2018. He was married to Margaret Njeri nee Muturi on February 24th 1968 with whom he had 4 children: