On 27 May 2016, surrounded by his beloved family, Kunene died peacefully at his home in Madison, America. He was 93 years old.[i]
Daniel Kunene was born in Edenvale, South Africa on 13 April 1923 to Ephraim and Martha Kunene.[ii] Notwithstanding the ravages of Apartheid, he completed a BA through at UNISA in 1949 and an M.A. at UCT in 1951.
After his marriage to Selina Sekhuthe in 1953, he went on to do a PhD at the University of Cape Town, completed in 1961. Two years later, after a stint in London, he sought political asylum for himself and his family in the United States where he remained in exile for 30 years.
Ten years after the death of his first wife Selina, Kunene married his second wife Marci Ellis who recently described him as her ‘soulmate’ and a ‘humble genius’.[iii] A family man who travelled extensively with his family, in his obituary compiled by Cress Funeral Service he is hailed as ‘a beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, teacher, and community leader in Madison.’[iv]
A much acclaimed linguist, scholar and award winning writer of short stories and poetry, Kunene also transcribed South African oral works and translated the work of South African writers.[v] In addition to teaching at the UW Madison in the Department of African Languages and Literature for 33 years, Kunene also taught at the University of Cape Town, the University of London, the University of California, Los Angeles and ‘the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany’.
During his lifetime he wrote sixteen books and monographs in English and Sesotho in addition to hundreds of other publications. Kunene is particularly noted for his poem Soweto, which the Dutch composer Barnard van Buerden formulated into a musical piece.[vi] Notable too is that three of his books were published when he was 90 years of age.[vii]
On 13 December 2013, when Kunene was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Literature at UCT, he was lauded for ‘exposing African culture to the rest of the world’.[viii] Kunene’s legacy will live on both in his birth country, South Africa and in his adopted home in Madison, America where he was a valued community leader.
Endnotes
[i] Prof Emeritus Daniel P, Kunene, Cress Funeral and Cremation Service (undated) http://www.cressfuneralservice.com/obituary/153502/Professor-Emeritus--Daniel-Kunene/ Undated. (Date accessed 31.05.2016). ↵
[ii] Prof Emeritus Daniel P, Kunene, Cress Funeral and Cremation Service (undated) http://www.cressfuneralservice.com/obituary/153502/Professor-Emeritus--Daniel-Kunene/ Undated. (Date accessed 31.05.2016). ↵
[iii] Samary Kalk Derby, Winconsin State Journal, ‘UW African prof Daniel Kunene remembered as 'loving,' 'humble' and 'regal' 30 May 2016. Url number http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/african-prof-daniel-kunene-remembered-as-loving-humble-and-regal/article_96d12f77-4cfc-5bd0-99d3-75e84e79f907.html (Date accessed) 02.06.2016). ↵
[iv] Prof Emeritus Daniel P, Kunene, Cress Funeral and Cremation Service (undated) http://www.cressfuneralservice.com/obituary/153502/Professor-Emeritus--Daniel-Kunene/ Undated. (Date accessed 31.05.2016). ↵
[v] Ibid. (Date accessed 31.05.2016). ↵
[vi]Prof Emeritus Daniel P, Kunene, Cress Funeral and Cremation Service (undated) http://www.cressfuneralservice.com/obituary/153502/Professor-Emeritus--Daniel-Kunene/ Undated. (Date accessed 31.05.2016). ↵
[vii] Catherine Reiland, At 90 Kunene publishes books and will receive an honorary degree, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Url number http://africa.wisc.edu/?p=5555, 2 July, 2013. (Date accessed 31.05.2016). ↵
[[viii] Helen Swingler, Honorary doctorate for African literary icon Daniel Kunene, UCT Today’s News, url number http://www.uct.ac.za/dailynews/?id=8598, 17 December 2013 (Date accessed 31.05.2016). ↵