Ghanaian writer and feminist Ama Ata Aidoo dies at 81

She was one of the continent’s best-known writers and inspired a generation of younger authors, artists and feminists.

Ama Ata Aidoo, the iconic Ghanaian writer whose classics The Dilemma of a Ghost and Changes were taught to children in West African schools for decades, has passed away at the age of 81.

The death of the playwright and poet known for her feminist ideals was announced by her family in a brief statement on Wednesday.

The cause of death was an unknown disease.

“The family…with deep sorrow but in the hope of resurrection informs the general public that our beloved family member and writer passed away in the early hours of Wednesday morning, May 31, 2023, following a brief illness,” the statement read. Kwamena Essandoh Aidoo, a representative of the family.

Born in 1942 in a village in central Ghana, Aidoo started writing when she was 15. She eventually studied literature at the University of Ghana, where she taught for many years.

Her first work, The Dilemma of a Ghost, a play, was published in 1965, making her the first African woman to publish a play. She became one of the continent’s best-known writers, inspiring a generation of younger authors, artists and feminists.

Aidoo, who served as Ghana’s Education Minister from 1982 to 1983, won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book for Changes, a story about an educated woman navigating the complexities of a polygamous marriage.