Nigerian author Chinua Achebe dies at 82

Afp/getty Images / AFP - Getty Images file

Author Chinua Achebe outside his home at Ogidi, eastern Nigeria, in 1999.

By Eun Kyung Kim, TODAY contributor

Nigerian novelist and poet Chinua Achebe, whose 1958 novel ?Things Fall Apart? addressed colonialism on African society, has died.

His publisher, Penguin, confirmed his death, at age 82, according to Reuters, on Friday.

Achebe?s breakthrough novel focused on the clash between Western and traditional values. It told the story of colonialism for the first time from an African perspective, and?has sold more than 10 million copies and been translated into more than 50 languages.

Nelson Mandela has credited Achebe for bringing ?Africa to the rest of the world" and called him "the writer in whose company the prison walls came down.?

A spokeswoman for Penguin confirmed his death but had few other details. She said the family would be releasing a statement shortly.

Reuters contributed to this report.?

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653387/s/29de6515/l/0Ltodaynews0Btoday0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C220C174146120Enigerian0Eauthor0Echinua0Eachebe0Edies0Eat0E820Dlite/story01.htm

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