Professor Mphahlele in hospital

03 November 2006 - 02:00
By unknown
Writer and essayist and intellectual Professor Es'kia Mphahlele, 87.
© Unknown.
Writer and essayist and intellectual Professor Es'kia Mphahlele, 87. © Unknown.

Edward Tsumele

Edward Tsumele

Es'kia Mphahlele, 87, the world- renowned South African professor, scholar and social commentator, right, was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital on Tuesday.

He is reportedly suffering from intermittent memory loss and swollen feet.

The one-time herdboy was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969.

Mphahlele emerged from humble beginnings to be one of the foremost scholars of literature in the world.

He has taught at leading universities in Africa, including the University of the Witwatersrand, and at Denver University in the US.

He was born in Marabastad, Pretoria .

His son, Chabi Mphahlele, confirmed that his father was in hospital, but refused to comment on the nature of his illness.

He said he was confident that his father would be released from hospital this week.