19 Facts About Ben Enwonwu

Since 1950, Enwonwu was celebrated as "Africa's Greatest Artist" by the international media and his fame was used to enlist support for Black Nationalists movement all over the world.

Ben Enwonwu was born a twin on 14 July 1917 into the noble family of Umueze-Aroli in Onitsha, Anambra State, southeastern region of Nigeria.

Ben Enwonwu's father, Omenka Odigwe Emeka Enwonwu, was a technician who worked with the Royal Niger Company.

Ben Enwonwu was a member of the Onitsha Council of Chiefs and a traditional sculptor of repute, who created staffs of office, stools, decorative doors and religious images.

Ben Enwonwu's mother, Chinyelugo Iyom Nweze, was a successful cloth merchant.

Between 1921 and 1931, Ben Enwonwu attended five primary schools: St Joseph's Elementary School, Onitsha ; St, Theresa's Elementary School, Umuahia ; St Mary's Primary School, Port Harcourt ; Holy Trinity Primary; and St Mary's Primary School, both in Onitsha.

In 1933, Ben Enwonwu attended St Patrick's School, Ibusa, and later enrolled at the Government College, Ibadan, completing his secondary education at Government College Umuahia in 1937.

Ben Enwonwu continued his work as an art teacher in other various schools, including mission school in Calabar Province, and Edo College, Benin City.

Ben Enwonwu was art adviser to the Nigerian government from 1948.

From 1949 to 1954, Ben Enwonwu held many art exhibitions within London, Lagos, Milan, New York City, Washington DC, and Boston.

In 1959, Ben Enwonwu was appointed Supervisor in the Information Service Department office in Nigeria.

Ben Enwonwu was a fellow of Lagos University, cultural advisor to the Nigeria government, and visiting artist at the Institute of African Studies at Howard University, Washington, DC, in 1971.

Ben Enwonwu was appointed the first professor of Fine Arts at the University of Ife, Ile-Ife, from 1971 to 1975.

Ben Enwonwu was art consultant to the International Secretariat, Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture in Lagos of 1977.

Ben Enwonwu executed portraits of Nigerians as private commissions and illustrated Amos Tutuola's 1958 novel The Brave African Huntress.

Ben Enwonwu maintained a studio in London and was a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute, London.

Ben Enwonwu's most celebrated and arguably finest sculpture, Anyanwu, is displayed on the facade of the National Museum in Lagos.

The painting's owner had known Ben Enwonwu, and described him as a lovely man always with a flower in his lapel and some of his work can be found in the Kakofoni Group Gallery.

Ben Enwonwu's work is displayed in the National Gallery of Modern Art, Lagos.