Centre of African Studies
Norman Leys and the fight against settler colonialism
Norman Leys (1875-1944) worked as a medical officer in East Africa from 1901 to 1917. From his retirement on health grounds in 1918 until his death in 1944 he worked tirelessly to expose the injustice of settler colonialism in Kenya. His book Kenya, published 100 years ago this year, was a best-seller.
Four remarkable historians (John Cell, Diana Wylie, George Shepperson and Lotte Hughes) have credited him with playing a, if not the, leading role in alerting the British public to the system of ‘modern slavery’ in Kenya, and in ensuring that the settlers never achieved ‘responsible government’ under their control, as they had in Southern Rhodesia.
