Chinua Achebe (born November 16, 1930) is a Nigerian writer.

Achebe, whose full name is Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, was born in Ogidi, Nigeria and attended University College in Ibadan (at the time a college of the University of London, now the University of Ibadan), where he studied English, history and theology. He later studied broadcasting at the BBC and became the first Director of External Broadcasting at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation in 1961. During the civil war, he worked for the Biafran government as an ambassador, an experience that inspired him to write the poem Refugee Mother and Child.

Achebe is considered the father of the African novel in English as well as one of the world's most acclaimed writers. His modern African classic Things Fall Apart, published in 1958, has sold over 10 million copies around the world and has been translated into fifty languages. Things Fall Apart has appeared on numerous lists of the 100 greatest novels of all time, including ones published in Norway (Norwegian Book Club), England (Guardian and Observer), America (Radcliffe Publishing Course list of top 100 novels of the 20th century) and Africa (Africa's Best Books of the 20th Century).

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