Born Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka in Ake, Abeokuta, Western Nigeria in 1934, Wole Soyinka is Africa's most distinguished playwright and dramatist.
Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986, the first African so honored, Soyinka's career as a creative artist began at age 23, when his first plays were performed in London and Ibadan.
Since then, Soyinka has produced a prolific body of work - over two dozen plays, novels, autobiographies, hundreds of essays, poetry collections, two films and an album of satiric songs.
Teacher, playwright, director, actor, icon, rebel, activist, family man and international statesman - this photo biography captures the multi-faceted personality of one of the most engaging individuals of our time.