Scholars and religious figures
Said Sheikh Samatar (Saciid Sheekh Samatar)
Said Sheikh Samatar (1943–2015) was a Somali historian who taught African history at Rutgers University–Newark from 1981 to 2015. Born to a herding family in the Ogaden, he became a leading authority on Somalia. His book Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism (1982) showed how Somali poetry carried politics, and he explained Somalia to world media for three decades.
Said Sheikh SamatarSaid S. Samatar · Saciid Sheekh Samatar
- Lived
- 1943 to 2015
- Known as one of
- Scholars and religious figures
- Era
- The Republic, 1960 to 1991; Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012; Who holds power, 2012 to now
- Sources
- 2 sources
Who was he?
Said Sheikh Samatar was a Somali scholar and writer (Wikipedia, Said Sheikh Samatar). He was a professor of history at Rutgers University–Newark (Rutgers University–Newark, 2015).
A herder's childhood
He was born in 1943 in the Ogaden, a Somali-inhabited region of Ethiopia (Rutgers). He grew up among nomads. He later wrote of "seasons of plenty" and of droughts that brought hunger (Wikipedia). In 1958 his father, an Islamic magistrate, sent for him to start school in Qalaafo (same source). After fighting in 1963, he and his brothers became refugees in the Somali Republic (same source).
Study in America
In 1970 he worked at the National Teaching College in Somalia (Wikipedia). A scholarship took him to Goshen College in Indiana (same source). He worked as a welder by day to support his family and studied early and late (Rutgers). He earned a PhD in African history at Northwestern University in 1979 (same source).
Scholar of Somalia
He joined Rutgers in 1981 (Rutgers). In 1982 Cambridge University Press published Oral Poetry and Somali Nationalism (same source). It studied the poetry of Sayid Mohamed Abdullah Hassan (same source). With David Laitin he wrote Somalia: Nation in Search of a State in 1987 (same source). He edited the journal The Horn of Africa for about 25 years (same source). See Somali poetry.
Explaining Somalia to the world
In 1992 he worked as a consultant and interpreter for ABC's Nightline in Somalia (Rutgers). He spoke on the BBC, CBS, CNN International and PBS (same source). He was an early member of the Somali Studies International Association (Wikipedia).
Death
He died on 24 February 2015, two weeks after a fall (Rutgers). His daughter is the writer Sofia Samatar (same source). Rutgers leaders called him "a true friend to his colleagues" (same source). They said his advice was "freely given with candor", often with humour (same source).
In short
A historian who studied Somali poetry as a historical source and taught at Rutgers University.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Said Sheikh Samatar · en.wikipedia.org
- Rutgers University–Newark, 2015 · newark.rutgers.edu
Said Sheikh SamatarSaid S. Samatar · Saciid Sheekh Samatar
- Lived
- 1943 to 2015
- Known as one of
- Scholars and religious figures
- 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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