Kaluta Amri Abeid

Kaluta Amri Abeid (Kaluta Amri Abedi, Sheikh Amri Abeid Kaluta, Sheikh Kaluta, 1924–9 Oct 1964) was a Tanzanian Muslim cleric (Sheikh), civil servant, politician and poet.

Born1924

Kigoma-Ujiji District, Tanzania

DiedNovember 9, 1964 (aged 39–40)

Bonn, Germany^[1]

OccupationsMinister of Justice and of Development and Culture, mayor of Dar es Salaam, poet and translator

NotableworkSheria za Kutunga Mashairi na Diwani ya Amri [The Rules of Poetic Composition and Amri’s Poems] (in Swahili, 1954)

Quick facts Born, Died ...

Kaluta Amri Abeid
Born	1924 (1924) Kigoma-Ujiji District, Tanzania
Died	November 9, 1964(1964-11-09) (aged 39–40) Bonn, Germany^[1]
Occupations	Minister of Justice and of Development and Culture, mayor of Dar es Salaam, poet and translator
Notable work	Sheria za Kutunga Mashairi na Diwani ya Amri [The Rules of Poetic Composition and Amri’s Poems] (in Swahili, 1954)

Close

Biography

Kaluta Amri Abeid was the second Minister of Justice of Tanganyika and Minister of Development and Culture under President Julius Nyerere in 1963-1964, and the first African mayor of Dar es Salaam. He also was a seminal Swahili poet and translator.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] Abeid was a prominent member of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) and led the national delegation to the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York.^[6]

Abeid was on the presidential commission to advise over turning Tanzania into a one-party state. However, he died in 1964 before the commission delivered its final report.^[1]

Like his fellow Tanzanian poet Saadan Kandoro, Kaluta Amri Abedi was an adherent of nationalist politics.^[7]

Honours

The Sheikh Amri Abeid Memorial Stadium in Arusha was named after him.

Swahili poetry quotation

A poetry fragment by Sheikh Kaluta using an extended utenzi form is:

Uadui ukizi
   Humpofusha maizi;
Ukamfanya hasidi
   Mzushi na mchongezi;
Ukamfikisha hadi
   Ya ujinga na uozi;
Mtu huadui mwezi
   Akausema ni nyota.

— Abedi, K.A.^[8]

Enmity
   Blinds the mind;
It makes it envious
   A heretic and a slanderer;
It leads it to
   Ignorance and slander;
A person hates the moon
   And calls it a star.

Publications

His publications include:^[9]

Abeid, Kaluta Amri (1954). Sheria za Kutunga Mashairi na Diwani ya Amri [The Rules of Poetic Composition and Amri’s Poems] (in Swahili). East African Literature Bureau. OCLC 557822348. Essay and poems. 148 pages.
Nyerere, Julius K.; Abeid, Kaluta Amri (1970). Kilio cha Uhuru [The Cry of Freedom] (in Swahili). Dar es Salaam: National Print. OCLC 602596153. Speech, 21 pages.
Mnyampala, Mathias E.; Abeid, Kaluta Amri (1965). Waadhi wa ushairi [Poetry lovers] (in Swahili). Dar es Salaam: East African Literature Bureau. OCLC 1014978246. 87 pages.
Abeid, KA, et al., eds. (1964). African Conference on Local Courts and Customary Law Held in Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika, 8th September 1963-18th September 1963, Under the Chairmanship of the Minister of Justice of Tanganyika, Sheik Amri Abedi. Dar es Salaam: University College and Ford Foundation. OCLC 3671394. 143 pages.

References

[1]
"How Tanzania became a single-party state in 1965". thecitizen.co.tz. The Citizen, Nation Media Group. November 1, 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
[2]
Maina, Stephen (October 21, 2015). "Mwalimu J.K.Nyerere na Kaluta Amri Abeid" [Teacher J.K. Nyerere and Kaluta Amri Abeid]. Mwananchi.co.tz (in Swahili). Mwananchi Communications Ltd., Nation Media Group. Archived from the original on 2020-01-27. Retrieved 2024-12-24. Kaluta Amri Abeid alizaliwa Ujiji Kigoma mwaka 1924. Alikuwa ni mtoto wa pili wa kiume katika familia ya watoto kumi. Mwaka 1930 alianza masomo ya madrasa kwa miaka mitatu na baadaye kujiunga na shule ya msingi. Alijiunga na shule ya Sekondari ya Tabora na baadaye alisomea ukarani hapa Dar es Salaam mwaka 1942 – 1943. [Kaluta Amri Abeid was born in Ujiji Kigoma in 1924. He was the second son in a family of ten children. In 1930 he started his studies at a madrasa for three years and later joined primary school. He joined Tabora Secondary School and later studied clerical work here in Dar es Salaam in 1942 – 1943.]
[3]
Arenberg, Meg (Fall 2019). "Tanzanian Ujamaa and the Shifting Politics of Swahili Poetic Form". Research in African Literatures. 50 (3, African Literary History and the Cold War). Indiana University Press: 11–12. doi:10.2979/reseafrilite.50.3.04. JSTOR 10.2979/reseafrilite.50.3.04. Kaluta Amri Abedi, in particular, would make an important contribution to the spread of traditional genres of Swahili poetry with the publication of his Sheria za Kutunga Mashairi na Diwani ya Amri (The Laws of Poetic Composition and Amri's Poems)
[4]
"Hivi viwanja vione tu, ni majina ya watu na mitaa" [Just look at these squares, they are the names of people and streets]. mwanaspoti.co.tz (in Swahili). Archived from the original on 2020-01-27. Retrieved 2020-01-27.
[5]
Topan, Farouk M. (2019). "Polemics and language in Swahili translations of the Qurʾan: Mubarak Ahmad (d. 2001), Abdullah Saleh al-Farsy (d. 1982) and Ali Muhsin al-Barwani (d. 2006)". In Hirji, Zulfikar (ed.). Approaches to the Qurʾan in sub-Saharan Africa. Qur'anic studies series, 19. Oxford, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, The Institute of Ismaili Studies. pp. 163–187. ISBN 9780198840770. OCLC 1059315430.
[6]
Abedi, Cheikh Bakri (2016). Un diamant d'Afrique : vie du Cheikh Kaluta Amri Abedi (1924-1964)
[7]
Julien, Eileen (2014). "African literature". In Grosz-Ngaté, Maria; Hanson, John H.; O’Meara, Patrick (eds.). Africa (4th ed.). Bloomington, Indiana, USA: Indiana University Press. pp. 209–232. ISBN 9780253302106. JSTOR ctt16gh7ps. OCLC 3120791.
[8]
Abedi, K.A. (1996). Uongofu wa tafsiri ya Kurani Tukufu. Husuda ya Sheikh Abdullah Saleh, Upinzani Umejibiwa [The conversion of the interpretation of the Holy Quran. The envy of Sheikh Abdullah Saleh, the opposition answered] (3rd ed.). Dar es Salaam: Jumuiya ya Waislamu Waahmadiyya. OCLC 66660399. 42. Quoted in Cheikh Bakri Abedi (2016), p. 425.
[9]
"Showing 1-9 of 9 Results". search.worldcat.org. OCLC, Inc. Retrieved December 25, 2024.

Kaluta Amri Abeid

Biography

Honours

Swahili poetry quotation

Publications

References

Further reading

External links

Related Articles

Timelines

Top Qs

Fact Checks