Rajat Neogy (17 December 1938 – 3 December 1995)[Paul Theroux, "Obituary: Rajat Neogy", The Independent, 15 January 1996,][ California Death Index: Rajat Neogy] was a of Bengali people ancestry, was a writer, poet and publisher. In Kampala in 1961, at the age of 22, he founded Transition Magazine, which went on to become one of the most influential literary journals in Africa.[Julius Sigei and Ciugu Mwagiru, "Humble magazine that nurtured Africa’s thinkers" , Daily Nation, 1 December 2012.] In the words of Ngugi wa Thiong'o, "he (Neogy) believed in the multi-cultural and multifaceted character of ideas, and he wanted to provide a space where different ideas could meet, clash, and mutually illuminate. Transition became the intellectual forum of the New East Africa, and indeed Africa, the first publisher of some of the leading intellectuals in the continent, including Wole Soyinka, Ali Mazrui and Peter Nazareth."[Ngugi wa Thiong'o, "Asia in My Life", Chimurenga, 15 May 2012.]
Biography
Neogy was born and grew up in
Kampala. He studied anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies in
London, where he also worked as a scriptwriter for the
BBC.
After returning to
Uganda in 1961, Neogy founded
Transition, which soon came to be considered the leading journal of free expression in
Africa. In 1962, he also played a leading role in organising the influential 1962 Makerere Conference for African Writers of English Expression, which brought together African and African American writers including Ngũgĩ, J.P. Clark and
Langston Hughes.
However, the success of
Transition also placed Neogy under new political pressure. In 1967, it was revealed that
Transition had indirectly received CIA funding through the Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF), a cultural body which aimed to sponsor anti-communist writing across the developing world. Neogy claimed that he had been unaware of the source of CCF funding, but he was strongly criticised by members of
Uganda's ruling
Milton Obote regime.
In 1968, after
Transition published a long editorial critical of the Ugandan government's authoritarianism, he was charged with sedition and spent months in detention before being acquitted and released.
Leaving
Uganda, he moved to
Ghana in 1970, where he resumed publishing
Transition with
Wole Soyinka taking over as editor.
Neogy then settled in the
United States.
Neogy died at the age of 57 at his home in San Francisco, where he had lived for two decades.[Eric Pace, "Rajat Neogy, 57, Founder of Journal on Africa", The New York Times, 11 December 1995.]
Born a Hindus, Neogy would eventually convert to Islam. At first he wanted to do it publicly at the Kibuli Mosque, but his friend Ali Mazrui dissuaded him, telling him that it would be better to convert privately.
Career and legacy
Founding Transition
At just 22 years old, Neogy founded
Transition in
Kampala in 1961, just before
Uganda gained independence. The magazine quickly became the premier intellectual forum of the new
East Africa, with a
Pan-Africanism and international reach.
Editor and publisher
As editor, Neogy published early works by a constellation of future literary giants, including
Wole Soyinka,
Chinua Achebe, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, and
Nadine Gordimer. The magazine was known for its "questing irreverence" and refusal to shy away from sensitive political topics, including an early critique of
Kwame Nkrumah's regime and discussions of race relations in
Uganda.
Advocacy for free expression
Neogy believed in the "multi-cultural and multifaceted character of ideas" and provided a space where different viewpoints could meet and clash. His commitment to free speech led to his most notable legal battle when he was arrested for sedition in 1968 after publishing articles critical of the
Ugandan government's authoritarianism under
Milton Obote
Imprisonment and exile
Neogy spent months in solitary confinement as an Amnesty International "Prisoner of Conscience" before his eventual acquittal and release. Brutalized and disillusioned by his imprisonment, he left
Uganda in 1969, moving the magazine first to
Ghana, and eventually handing over editorship to
Wole Soyinka.
Later life and legacy
Neogy settled in
San Francisco, where he lived the final two decades of his life, passing away in 1995. The magazine he founded was later resurrected at Harvard University and continues to be a leading global cultural magazine today. The Rajat Neogy Editorial Fellowship was created to honor his trailblazing work and support new editorial talent.
See also
External links
