# Ali Jimale Ahmed (Cali Jimcaale Axmed)

> Ali Jimale Ahmed (1954–2026): Mogadishu-born poet and CUNY professor, editor of The Invention of Somalia.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/ali-jimale-ahmed/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Who was he?

Ali Jimale Ahmed was a Somali scholar, author, poet and professor ([Wikipedia, Ali Jimale Ahmed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Jimale_Ahmed)). Brittle Paper called him a "custodian of Somali memory" ([Brittle Paper, April 2026](https://brittlepaper.com/2026/04/remembering-professor-ali-jimale-ahmed-1954-2026-scholar-poet-and-custodian-of-somali-memory/)).

## Early life

He was born in Mogadishu on 17 April 1954 ([Brittle Paper](https://brittlepaper.com/2026/04/remembering-professor-ali-jimale-ahmed-1954-2026-scholar-poet-and-custodian-of-somali-memory/)). He began his working life as a radio broadcaster and journalist in Somalia (same source). See [media in Somalia](/en/society/media-in-somalia/).

## Scholar

He earned a doctorate at the University of California, Los Angeles ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Jimale_Ahmed)). He became professor and chair of Comparative Literature at Queens College and taught at the CUNY Graduate Center (same source). He taught African, Middle Eastern and European literature (same source). Students remember his Socratic teaching, where learning went both ways ([Brittle Paper](https://brittlepaper.com/2026/04/remembering-professor-ali-jimale-ahmed-1954-2026-scholar-poet-and-custodian-of-somali-memory/)).

## The Invention of Somalia

His best-known scholarly book is *The Invention of Somalia* (1995) ([Brittle Paper](https://brittlepaper.com/2026/04/remembering-professor-ali-jimale-ahmed-1954-2026-scholar-poet-and-custodian-of-somali-memory/)). Tributes remember him as a sceptic of "invented" nations and a defender of the dignity of marginalised communities (same source). He also wrote *Daybreak Is Near* and *Silence Is Not Golden* (same source). *The Road Less Traveled* is among his other books (same source).

## Poet

His poetry books include *Fear Is a Cow*, *Diaspora Blues* and *When Donkeys Give Birth to Calves* ([Brittle Paper](https://brittlepaper.com/2026/04/remembering-professor-ali-jimale-ahmed-1954-2026-scholar-poet-and-custodian-of-somali-memory/)). His work was translated into Japanese, Danish, Bosnian, Portuguese and Turkish (same source). Wikipedia also notes translations into languages of the former Yugoslavia ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Jimale_Ahmed)). See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## Mentor

He guided many young scholars, who carry his ideas into their own classrooms ([Brittle Paper](https://brittlepaper.com/2026/04/remembering-professor-ali-jimale-ahmed-1954-2026-scholar-poet-and-custodian-of-somali-memory/)). Friends described his outlook as "Critical Optimism", a faith in justice and in what literature can make possible (same source).

## Death

He died on 31 March 2026 ([Brittle Paper](https://brittlepaper.com/2026/04/remembering-professor-ali-jimale-ahmed-1954-2026-scholar-poet-and-custodian-of-somali-memory/)). The African Literature Association published a remembrance (same source).

## In short

A poet and professor of comparative literature who writes on Somali literature and history.

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