Poets and writers
Jama Musse Jama (Jaamac Muuse Jaamac)
Jama Musse Jama (born 1967 in Hargeisa) is a Somali ethnomathematician and writer. He studied mathematics in Mogadishu and Pisa and holds a PhD in computational linguistics from Naples. He founded the Hargeysa International Book Fair and in 2014 the Hargeysa Cultural Centre, and has written books on traditional Somali games such as shax.
Jama Musse JamaJaamac Muuse Jaamac
- Lived
- 1967 to today
- Known as one of
- Poets and writers
- Era
- The Republic, 1960 to 1991; Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012; Who holds power, 2012 to now
- Sources
- 2 sources
Who is he?
Jama Musse Jama is a Somali ethnomathematician and author born in 1967 in Hargeisa (Wikipedia, Jama Musse Jama). Somaliland declared independence in 1991; Israel recognised it on 26 December 2025; most states and the AU regard it as part of Somalia.
Study
He studied mathematics for four and a half years at the Somali National University in Mogadishu, then studied mathematics at the University of Pisa (Wikipedia). He earned a PhD in computational linguistics at the University of Naples "L'Orientale" (same source). See Somalis in Italy.
Research and books
At Pisa he began researching traditional Somali games and the history of mathematics in the Horn of Africa (Wikipedia). His books include Shax: the preferred game of our camel-herders (2002), Layli Goobalay (2002) and Gobannimo Bilaash Maaha / Freedom is not free (2007) (same source). He built the Somali Corpus of digital texts for language research (same source).
Culture and literacy
He founded and organises the Hargeysa International Book Fair, and in 2014 founded the Hargeysa Cultural Centre, which he directs (Wikipedia). He became a research associate at SOAS in 2019 and a senior research associate at University College London in 2020 (same source). The Nigerian Guardian wrote about his publishing work in 2026 (The Guardian Nigeria, 3 January 2026).
In short
A Hargeisa-born mathematician who studies Somali games and runs the Hargeysa book fair and cultural centre.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Jama Musse Jama · en.wikipedia.org
- The Guardian Nigeria, 3 January 2026 · guardian.ng
Jama Musse JamaJaamac Muuse Jaamac
- Lived
- 1967 to today
- Known as one of
- Poets and writers
- Era
- The Republic, 1960 to 1991; Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012; Who holds power, 2012 to now
- Sources
- 2 sources
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Where this matters
- Muqdisho (Mogadishu) and BanaadirMogadishu (Muqdisho) is Somalia's capital and makes up the Banadir region, with about 2.97 million people in 20 districts.
- Hargeysa (Hargeisa) and Woqooyi GalbeedWoqooyi Galbeed is the north-western region that holds Hargeisa (Hargeysa) and the port of Berbera, with about 1 to 1.45 million people.
Same era
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