Elizabeth Mary Isichei (née Allo; born 22 March 1939) is a New Zealand author, historian and academic. ^{[1] [2]}

Early life, family and education

Isichei was born Elizabeth Mary Allo in Tauranga, New Zealand, on 22 March 1939, the daughter of Albert (an agricultural scientist) and Lorna Allo. ^{[2] [3]} She was educated at Tauranga College, and attained the highest marks in New Zealand in the 1955 university entrance scholarship examinations. ^[4] She went on to study at the University of Canterbury, from where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1960 and won a senior university scholarship. ^{[5] [6]} She then completed a Master of Arts with first-class honours in history at Victoria University of Wellington in 1961. ^[2] Her honours thesis formed the basis of her book, Political Thinking and Social Experience, published in 1964. ^[7] She won a Commonwealth Scholarship and, after a brief period as a temporary assistant lecturer in history at the University of Canterbury, undertook doctoral studies at Nuffield College, Oxford. ^{[8] [9]} Her DPhil thesis, completed in 1967, was titled Quakers and society in Victorian England. ^[10]

At Oxford, Allo met Peter Isichei, a chemical pathologist. The couple became engaged in 1963, ^[11] and married on 23 July 1964, going on to have five children. ^{[2] [9]}

Academic career

Elizabeth Isichei was a professor in the Department of History at the University of Jos in Nigeria from 1976, and was general editor for Jos Oral History and Literature Texts. ^[2] She has said that having both a family and career "would not have been possible if my husband had not gone to any lengths to help and encourage me". ^[9] She was a visiting fellow at the University of Canterbury in 1984, ^[9] and in 1992 was appointed a professor of religious studies at the University of Otago. ^{[12] [13]} On her retirement from Otago in 2006, she was accorded the title of professor emeritus. ^[13]

Her works and books are centred on Christianity in Africa and the history of Nigeria particularly the Igbo people, ^[14] including a biography of Michael Tansi, the first Nigerian Trappist monk. ^[9] She also wrote on contemporary developments in New Zealand Catholicism, and on the religious meanings of Colin McCahon's art. ^[15]

In 1992, Isichei was awarded a Doctor of Letters degree by the University of Canterbury. ^{[13] [16]} She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 1997, but no longer holds that fellowship. ^[17]

Poetry

Before going to Oxford in 1962, Allo established a reputation as a poet, with her work appearing in publications including the Listener, Landfall, Comment and the Poetry Yearbook. ^[18] She returned to poetry in the 1990s, and her poems were published in the Listener, Winterspin, and various anthologies, ^[18] as well as her own published collections. ^[19]

Later life

Isichei's husband, Peter Isichei, died in 2023. ^[20]

Selected works

• 1964: Political Thinking and Social Experience: Some Christian Interpretations of the Roman Empire, University of Canterbury Publications
• 1970: Victorian Quakers, Oxford University Press ^[21]
• 1973: The Ibo People and the Europeans: The Genesis of a Relationship, to 1906, St. Martin's
• 1976: A History of the Igbo People, ^[22] St. Martin's
• 1977: A History of West Africa since 1800, Africana ^[23]
• 1977: Igbo Worlds: An Anthology of Oral History and Historical Descriptions, Institute for the Study of Human Issues ^[24]
• 1981: Entirely for God: The Life of Michael Iwene Tansi, Macmillan Nigeria
• 1982: Studies in the History of Plateau State, Nigeria, Macmillan
• 1983: A History of Nigeria, Longman
• 1995: A History of Christianity in Africa: From Antiquity to the Present, Africa World Press
• 1997: A History of African Societies to 1870, Cambridge University Press
• 2002: Voices of the Poor in Africa, University of Rochester Press (Rochester, NY)
• 2004: The Religious Traditions of Africa: A History, Raeger (Westport, CT)
• 2005: Stoptide, Steele Roberts (New Zealand)

References