Browse the index
Filter by category and discipline, then by continent, country and century of birth. Countries not yet represented can be drafted at the research desk.
Category
Disciplines in Literature & Letters
Novelists, poets, philosophers, theologians, New Thought authors, historians and the students of language itself.
Era
6 figures
Fatima al-Fihri
800 – 880Founded al-Qarawiyyin in 859, the oldest continuously operating university.
Morocco·History
Ibn Battuta
1304 – 1369Travelled some 120,000 km across the medieval world and wrote the Rihla.
Morocco·Literature · History
Ibn Khaldun
1332 – 1406Founded sociology and economic history with the Muqaddimah.
Tunisia·History · Economics · Philosophy
Amílcar Cabral
1924 – 1973Agronomist whose theory of culture and liberation shaped decolonisation.
Guinea-Bissau·Philosophy · History
Ali Mazrui
1933 – 2014Defined the 'triple heritage' framework for African identity.
Kenya·History · Philosophy
Assia Djebar
1936 – 2015Novelist and filmmaker of Algerian women's silenced history.
Algeria·Literature · History