Mary was born on March 10th 1949, to Mr. AmosOdeyiola and Mrs. Deborah Adewoye, in Lagos Island (Isale Eko).
She attended primary school in Iludun Oro, Kwara State, and secondary school in St. Faith Girls School, Kaduna.
She obtained her BA in English from the Ahmadu Bellow University, Zaria.
She met the love of her life, Deboye Kolawole, during her undergraduate degree in Zaria.
They got married in Ile-Ife where he was working after his MSc from Zaria, and went on to Birmingham, UK for his PhD.
In 1973, Mary and Deboye gave birth to their first child, Folake, in Birmingham, UK.
They returned to Nigeria on completion of Deboye’s doctorate, and settled in Ilorin, where they both worked at the Kwara State College of Technology (Now renamed Kwara State Polytechnic).
In 1980, the family moved back to Ile-Ife, and initially worked at OSCAS (the Oyo State College of Arts & Science), before Deboye rejoined the then University of Ife, which later became the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU. This was also before Osun State was carved out of Oyo State.
Mary obtained her MA from the University of Ife, before joining as faculty
They became involved with the All Souls Chapel in OAU, as well as several house fellowships on campus. They also became very active with the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship (FGBMFI).
In 1985, Temiloluwa was born in Ile-Ife. That was also the year in which Mary obtained her PhD.
Ile-Ife is where they both worked primarily until their joint retirement in 2009. They did have several sabbatical leaves abroad in this timespan. They also both became Professors at the OAU as well, and rose to the pinnacle of their respective professions, attending several conferences every year, both nationally and internationally.
Mary was notably the recipient of a Rockefeller fellowship at the Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, as well as the Commonwealth fellowship at the University of Canterbury, Kent. She also received other similar fellowships all over the world.
Mary authored several books during her career, most notably these 2:
•Womanism And African Consciousness (still Available on Amazon).
•Gender Perceptions And Development In Africa.
Mary and Deboye retired from Ile-Ife, to their dream home in Ilorin, in their home state of Kwara.
They then took on contract jobs at KWASU (Kwara State University) for a few more years, during which they stayed active in their respective professions, imparting more generations to come as well as attending international and national conferences. It was important to them to pass on as much of their knowledge as possible, to those comments after them. They alsoboth took on administrative roles in the university, and Mary was Dean of Post-Graduate School, just prior to finally bowing out, and deciding to stay retired in 2017.
They were very active in their church, UMTC, and in the community.
Mary passed on to glory on February 16th, 2021, just a few weeks shy of her 72nd birthday, after dealing with a sudden worsening of some health challenges she had dealt with for a few years.
She is survived by her husband, children, grandchild, brothers, sisters, step-mom, nephews, nieces, and many that she adopted into these roles.
She will be sorely missed. But we rest assured that she is in the bosom of our Lord, and we will see her again on resurrection day.
—Folake Taylor, MD.
Favorite Daughter.
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DETAILED ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS
Culled from a more detailed official tribute by Dr. Muritala Awodun
An African Womanist
We Lost an African Womanist, Great Mother, Lovely Wife, and Upright Mentor
in Mary Ebunoluwa Modupeola Kolawole
B.A. English, M.A. American Literature, PhD African Literature and Gender Theory
Professor of African Literature and Gender Studies
Mary Ebun Modupe Kolawole retired early, as Professor of African Literature and Gender Studies from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife in 2009 because her husband, Professor Deboye Kolawole, a Professor of Microbiology was due for retirement that year, and would be relocating to their home state, Kwara, from Ile Ife. While at OAU, she was Fellow of the Center for Gender and Social Policy Studies, Nigeria, Fellow of Network for Setting an Agenda forWomen's Studies in Nigeria, and Director, Centre for African Research in Progress.
Professor Mary Kolawole joined the Kwara State University, Malete, upon her retirement from OAU, in 2009, to offer her State the required support in nurturing the newly established University. At KWASU, she served as a Member of the Board of KWASU Centre for Entrepreneurship, Head of Department of Languages and Linguistics, Chairman of the University Ceremonies Committee, and Dean of the Postgraduate School, amongst other teaching, research, administrative and community development responsibilities. She left Kwara State University, in 2017, also because her husband was separating from the University, to take
the deserved rest of retirement, having contributed her quota to lay the foundation to sustain the nascent University.
She received several distinguished international awards and honors, including the National Endowment for the Humanities/USIA, University of Berkeley, California, 1990, a Rockefeller Visiting Fellow in African Cultural and Gender Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1991/92, and Associate of the African Gender Institute, University of Cape Town, 1996. She was also a Guest Researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsalla, Sweden, in 1997 and a DAAD Guest Scholar at Teh Humbold University, Berlin, 2002.
Professor Mary Kolawole was consultant to many international agencies including the Ford Foundation, the United Nations University, Tokyo, and the International Institute for Higher Education, NY. She was the Nigerian National Coordinator of the Women Writing Africa Project of the Feminist Press, NY. She won the USIA/National Endowment for Humanities, University of California Berkeley, 1990. She was the Rockefeller Fellow in African Cultural and Gender Studies at Africana Studies and Research Center, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 1991/92. She was also a Commonwealth Fellow, at the University of Kent in Canterbury, 1994/95. She was also the Foundation Associate of the African Gender Institute, University of Cape Town, 1997, and Research Fellow, Nordic African Institute, Uppsala, Sweden, 1999. She was a participant at the International Scholars' Program on "The 2000 African Internet Connectivity Project," University of Michigan, East Lansing, Michigan, May, 2000.
Her book, Womanism and African Consciousness (Africa World Press, 1997) and others are on the readilists of many American and European universities. Through an in-depth examination ofthe oral and written genres by and about women, Mary Kolawole presents a comprehensive account of the African woman's role in forming and shaping cultural, societal and political spheres in that book, Womanism and African Consciousness. The book, in its 8th edition was first published in 1977 in English and held by 269 WorldCat member libraries worldwide, is a comprehensive study of the African woman's cultural, societal, and political audibility. Through an in-depth historical critique of indigenous oral and written genres by and about women, the
author challenges the accepted notion that African woman are "voiceless" members of society.
At the base for her study is the concept of "Womanism" - an ideology which she defines as the "totality of feminine self-expression, self-retrieval, and self-assertion in positive cultural ways." This methodology reveals hidden areas of audibility and calls for a new generation of writers who will create a global consciousness about the realities of the African woman and women of African descent. The issues discussed are important and relevant to current dialogue among critics of feminism. Her conclusions, particularly on the issue of the "invisibility" myth and its origins, are well supported.
Tracing the development of the portrayal of women in literature in a comprehensive and cohesive manner, the Mary Kolawole concluded that African women writers are not passive to their condition - they are not "voiceless." She recommended a dialogic approach to modern criticism in order to accommodate all approaches to the African woman's self-definition. A high level of consciousness, she asserts, is central to self-recovery for the African woman and can be attained through African womanist ideology.
Gender Perceptions and Development in Africa is another book of Mary Kolawole. In its 7th edition, it was published in 1998 in English and held by 81 WorldCat member libraries worldwide. "In this multi-disciplinary collection of essays, several African researchers present gender perceptions that shape the lives of women. These studies critically present existing myths of gender in an attempt to transcend the stereotypes embodied in them. The collection further presents women's life histories, socio-economic space, empowerment and environment to reveal the problems and the gains. Rejecting negative perceptions enhance African women's search for social justice, poverty alleviation and reiterates women's right as human right."
The Context of African Women’s Struggle was published in 1997 in English and held by 1 WorldCat member library worldwide. Through an in-depth examination of the oral and written genres by and about women, Kolawole presents a comprehensive account of the African woman's role in forming and shaping cultural, societal and political spheres.
Zulu Sofola: Her Life & Her Works is another Mary Kolawole’s book that is in its 6th edition and was published in 1999 in English and held by 84 WorldCat member libraries worldwide.
Some of her other most widely read works are:
- Perspectives on African Studies: A Multidisciplinary Approach
- Gender Theories and Polemics: A Critical Source Book: Festschrift in Honour of Professor Mrs Mary Ebun Kolawole
- An African View of Transatlantic Slavery and the Role of Oral Testimony in Creating a New Legacy
- Re-conceptualizing African Gender Theory: Feminism, Womanism and the Arere Metaphor
- The Context of African Women’s Struggle
- Text, Texuality and Contextuality: Paradigms Lost and Paradigms Regained in Literary Theory
- The African Write as a Maker and a Mask
She was the Editor-in-Chief of the following Journals:
- Journal of Gender and Development in Africa, Center for Gender and Social Policy Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
- ISALA: Ife Studies in African Literature and the Arts, Department of English, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
Professor Mary Ebun Modupe Kolawole died in Ilorin, Kwara State in the early hours of Tuesday, February 16, 2021 leaving behind her husband and two children.
Muritala Awodun, PhD
Professor of Business Administration
Centre for Enterprise and Human Capital Development
Crown-Hill University, Eiyenkorin,
Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria
