Famous People from Kenya

There are many famous people from Kenya, and other countries, who have become associated with Kenyan history. Kenya has undergone several significant eras since the arrival of Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese explorer, who opened up the shipping route to Kenya’s beautiful coastline. In the 1900s the British colonized Kenya, dominating Kenyan politics with the rule of the British Empire. In the 1950s, the Mau Mau resisted British rule, and Kenyans rose up to claim their country’s heritage.

Jomo Kenyatta

On December 12, 1963, Kenya became an independent state and Jomo Kenyatta, a member of the Kikuyu people, became Kenya’s first African president.  Kenyatta was born in 1891 in Kenya when it was known as British East Africa.  Kenyatta worked as a government clerk in Nairobi where he became interested in politics. He studied at the London School of Economics and in 1938 wrote “Facing Mount Kenya” for his thesis.

He returned to Kenya to be elected president of the Kenya African National Union (KANU). He was imprisoned as result of the Mau Mau rebellions during the 1950s but eventually was elected president of the new Republic of Kenya in 1964.

Vasco da Gama

As far back as the 1400s European sailors were intrigued by exploring the beautiful coast of Kenya. Vasco da Gama became one of the early famous people of Kenya by discovering Kenya along the shipping route to India. He visited Mombassa in 1498 and thus began many years of power struggles between European countries for trading dominance of the Indian Ocean shipping routes. The Portuguese dominated Kenya for over a century before giving way to the Dutch and the British. In the village of Malindi, the Portuguese made a coral pillar as a guide to ships. Today you can still see the Vasco da Gama Pillar at Malindi, with its Lisbon stone cross.

Richard Leakey
This famous paleontologist made his mark on the history of Kenya as an extraordinary finder of fossils. Sponsored by the National Geographic Society, he led a successful excavation of sites around Kenya’s Lake Rudolf (now called Lake Turkana). There he found many hominid fossils, including a homo habilis skull, a 1.9 million year old find, and a homo erectus skull, dated at 1.7 million years old. Leakey’s finds were in remarkable condition and therefore significant finds which have contributed greatly to scientists being able to trace the history of the human species.

Dedan Kimathi

Executed by the British in 1957, Dedan Kimathi’s fate was sealed as one of the famous people from Kenya due to his leadership role in the Mau Mau rebellions of the 1950s, which led ultimately to Kenya’s independence from British colonial rule. During the uprisings, over 1,000 Africans were hanged by the British regime and hundreds of thousands were thrown into concentration camps. Kimathi is hailed by Kenyans as a heroic freedom fighter. Today a bronze statue of him graces Nairobi’s City Centre.

Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai earns her place as one of the famous people from Kenya for being the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctoral degree, and for her work in developing the Green Belt Movement focused on environmentalism and conservation. The movement works to encourage women’s groups in planting trees and building community. The success of the movement has been overwhelming. Outcrops of similar support groups now exist in the neighbouring countries of Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

This extraordinary woman, who obtained her Ph.D. in 1971 from the University of Nairobi, did not stop there. She went on to co chair the Jubilee 2000 Africa Campaign where she has been successful in assisting impoverished African countries to eliminate debts. She campaigns tirelessly for human rights and environmental conservation issues.

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