Sophie Oluwole, the trailblazing Nigerian woman who redefined philosophy

Oluwole faced a double challenge: a woman in philosophy and an African, confronting both sexism and Eurocentric bias.

By: Christophe Premat, Stockholm University, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: March 6, 2026

Words: 1,162

Last Updated: 4 days, 8 hours ago

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By Christophe Premat, Stockholm University

Sophie Oluwole (1935-2018) was a Nigerian scholar and the first woman to earn a PhD in philosophy in her country. She not only placed Nigeria’s rich Yoruba philosophical tradition on the intellectual map, she also helped redefine African philosophy, a field dominated by men.

As a scholar of cultural studies with a focus on francophone and west Africa, I recently co-authored, in French, a book called African Intellectual …

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