A user of the X app (formerly Twitter) has tagged an old photo of late Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe and former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela (also late) as the most expensive picture in Black history.
The picture of Chinua Achebe and Nelson Mandela was taken in 2002 at the University of Cape Town, South Africa by photographer Anna Zieminski for AFP/Getty Images.
The post has garnered a lot of attention on the X platform with many users supporting the writer’s position and some people sharing in their reminiscence of the time both men were alive.
One user on the app wrote:
Nelson Mandela read Chinua Achebe when he was in prison and reportedly described him as a writer “in whose company the prison walls fell down.”
Another wrote:
I trust this man, Achebe, like a God. He rejected every appointment offered to him by the Nigerian Government, refused every honorary award, distanced himself, and called the Nigerian Government out for what it is: a criminal enterprise. I will respect this man forever.
Chinua Achebe (1930-2013) was a renowned Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic, widely considered one of the most important African writers of the 20th century. His work has had a profound impact on African literature and global understanding of African culture and history.
Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country’s first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His presidency marked the end of decades of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination in South Africa.
Both Achebe and Mandela died in the same year (2013).
