Samuel Johnson (Nigerian historian)

The Rev. Samuel Johnson was an Anglican priest, diplomat, and historian, as well as the great-grandson of Alaafin Abiodun, a powerful king of the Oyo Empire. He is most notable for his magnum opus The History of the Yorubas, published posthumously in 1921, in which Johnson endeavored to record the oral traditions and history of the Yoruba people, which he feared were fast fading into obscurity. Lost, rewritten, and then narrowly escaping destruction during WWI, his history has since become "the most frequently cited and most influential volume about the Yoruba-speaking people". Besides his historical contributions, Johnson led an active life, variously serving as a minister, teacher, and school superintendent in Ibadan, capital city of the Oyo state in Nigeria. During the Yoruba Wars, he was an emissary involved in negotiations between the British, Ibadan chiefs, and the king of Oyo.