Dusé Mohamed Ali was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1866 to an Egyptian father and Sudanese mother, and was sent to England at around age nine to study, later losing much contact with his family in Egypt.
After his father and brother were killed during the 1882 British bombardment of Alexandria, Ali pursued a 24-year acting career on the British stage before turning to writing, publishing In the Land of the Pharaohs, reputedly the first history of Egypt written in English by an Egyptian author.
In 1912 Ali founded the African Times and Orient Review in London, a political and cultural journal that became an influential forum for African and Asian nationalist thought, publishing figures central to the emerging pan-African movement.
Ali later worked in the United States for Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association before settling in Nigeria, where he founded The Comet newspaper in Lagos in 1933, continuing his publishing career until his death in 1945.
His journal gave African and Asian intellectuals from across the world a shared platform for nationalist thought, at a time when few such outlets existed.
Dusé Mohamed Ali's African Times and Orient Review helped establish London as an early hub for pan-African and pan-Asian political thought, and his decades of publishing work in Britain, the United States and Nigeria connected generations of anti-colonial intellectuals.
- 1866Born in Alexandria, Egypt.
- c.1875Sent to England for his education.
- 1882Father and brother killed in the British bombardment of Alexandria.
- 1885–1909Pursues a career as a stage actor in Britain.
- 1911Publishes In the Land of the Pharaohs.
- 1912Founds the African Times and Orient Review in London.
- 1921Works for Marcus Garvey’s UNIA in the United States.
- 1933Founds The Comet newspaper in Lagos, Nigeria.
- 1945Dies in Lagos.
- ★ Founded the African Times and Orient Review, an influential pan-African and pan-Asian journal
- ★ Published In the Land of the Pharaohs, reputedly the first English-language history of Egypt by an Egyptian author
- ★ Founded The Comet newspaper in Lagos, Nigeria
- ★ Worked within Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association
- ★ Built a 24-year career as a stage actor before turning to publishing