Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo

Donato Ndongo

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Ndongo-Bidyogoand the second or maternal family name is Makina.

Donato Francisco Ndongo-Bidyogo Makina (born 12 December 1950), known as Donato Ndongo, ^[1] is an Equatoguinean journalist and writer who was one of the most prominent members of Hispanic African movement within the Spanish-speaking world. ^{[2] [3]}

Early life

Ndongo was born in Niefang in 1950 (then in the Spanish Guinea, now in Equatorial Guinea). ^[1] At the age of 14, he moved to Madrid, where he studied history and journalism. Her first journalistic job was at the Spanish magazine Índice, where he reported on the Carnation Revolution. He later worked for media outlets such as Diario 16 , Mundo Negro, and El País . ^[4]

Writings

Some of Ndongo's best-known books include Historia y tragedia de Guinea Ecuatorial (1977) and El Comercio Español con Africa (1980), in addition to numerous novels, historical, cultural and political articles written in Spain and for the foreign press. In 1984 he coordinated an anthology of Equatorial Guinean literature and was a finalist for the Sésamo Prize for his work entitled Las Tinieblas de tu Memoria Negra.

Professional activities

Subsequently, Ndongo has served as the deputy director for "Nuestra Señora de África" in Madrid (1982–1985) and the Spanish Centre for Hispanic-Guinean Culture in Malabo (1985–1994), both dependent from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Later life

After returning to Spain in the 1990s, he settled into a house he owned in Los Alcázares (Region of Murcia) and later moved to a new home in the city of Murcia after winning a competition held by the University of Murcia to create a Centre for African Studies, where he had his children. After this contract ended in 2004, he worked temporarily as a visiting professor at the University of Missouri until he had to return to Spain in 2008. Without financial stability and without recognition of part of his Guinean work by Social Security, his situation worsened, and he had to re-mortgage his house in Los Alcázares, which he eventually lost, without settling his debts with the bank. ^[4] As of July 2025, an eviction procedure for his second home is still open. ^[5]

Selected bibliography

Novels

• Las tinieblas de tu memoria negra (Editorial Fundamentos, 1987). Shadows of Your Black Memory, translated and with a postscript by Michael Ugarte (Swan Isle Press, 2007) ISBN   0-9748881-2-5
• Los poderes de la tempestad (Morandi, 1997)
• El metro ( El Cobre Ediciones, 2007)
• ¿Qué mató al joven Abdoulaye Cissé? (Ediciones Sequitur, 2023)

References

1. "Donato Ndongo". Casa África (in Spanish). 10 February 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
2. Quincoces, Sonia Fernández (26 November 2020). "La historia de Guinea Ecuatorial como nunca te la han contado". EL PAÍS (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 February 2021.
3. Ndongo, Donato. "Donato Ndongo – Revista Consejeros" (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 February 2021.
4. Vadillo, Virginia (7 July 2025). "El escritor, historiador y periodista Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo será desahuciado hoy de su casa de Murcia de los últimos 30 años". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 July 2025.
5. Paco, Rafa de (7 July 2025). "Aplazado al 23 de julio el desahucio para el activista y periodista Donato Ndongo". Cadena SER (in European Spanish). Retrieved 7 July 2025.

External links

• Ndongo has temporary home at the University of Missouri