Peter Nazareth (85)... a life well spent ... formerly of the International Writing Programme of the University of Iowa

[Frederick Noronha]

Prof. Peter Nazareth, whose work I admired from my college days four decades back, passed away on May 22, 2026, his friend and the editor of a festschrift dedicated to him, Steve G. Ellerhoff, informed.

With his impressive anthology [Goan Literature: A Modern Reader. Journal of South Asian Literature. Vol. 18, No. 1, Winter, Spring 1983, Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University] he convinced quite a few Eng Litt students of our generation that Goan writing (in English and in translation) offered a wide, impressive if still under-recognised field for study. Those who read the anthology were amazed to see the breadth of the work he had collated, in days when the Internet was a decade away, and communication was still by air-mail and typewriter. He did this work with the assistance of an Afro-American student, Joseph K. Henry. 

He was generous with his mentoring, always encouraging and supportive, and took every opportunity to review a deserving Goa book in prominent journals like World Literature Today.  Even if it was modestly self-published (in the Goa of the 1990s), but read well.

Peter, who was close to 85, worked till 2021, and retired after even managing for a year into the pandemic. He is still remembered as a prominent Ugandan writer, and often mentioned in the context of Makerere University (once called the "Harvard of Africa") and Uganda as a whole. His contribution to the International Writing Programme of the University of Iowa, where he was Professor of English, has often been acknowledged.

His statistician-brother John Nazareth (and me, to a lesser degree) failed to convince Peter to visit Goa. This was a place where he had a small if well-informed fan following, thanks to his writing, reviewing and editing work on this region. An earlier generation of the Nazareths had migrated to Malaya, Uganda, and then, his family went on to the US, departing from Idi Amin's Uganda.

His roots were in the Bardez village of Moira.

Ever grateful for his kindness in being so ready to share his knowledge, his politeness when explaining any point, and his repeated egging on those junior to him with generous encouragement. 

Peter will be warmly remembered. FN

PS: The attached e-copy of a festschrift gives an insight into the man Peter was, and how he was known to writers from across the globe.

E&OE
Written after a late night of work... Please excuse errors or oversights.

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_/  Frederick Noronha  फ्रेडरिक नोरोन्या  * فريدريك نورونيا‎
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[William Robert Da Silva]

I have been through Peter Nazareth long ago, FN. I would, however, wish to have from you the recent ad from Salgaokar or so on a research scholarship in Goa. Would it be available still for me to work for about three months in Goa on Konkanni Bhaxechi Bandavoll and Konkanni Utramdaiz? An opportunity I could use to present my work on ergativity in Konkanni and much more. Recently given some attention, but not much. Not by grammarians. I have begun a series on Konkanni in a monthly, Kuttmacho Sevok of the OFM Cap in Mangalore. A lot to be desired still from the editor, but he is better than most. 

I want also contact with birds research with Konkanni words.

W R da Silva

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[Amita Kanekar]

Thanks for the book, Rico. Quite a riveting read.  

To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/CA%2BvNr4L1Z_6jiQmQzJix5GgrNipoNrwW24T8rn-QHipK%2BZdSJg%40mail.gmail.com.

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The past is never dead. It is not even past."
                            -- William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun (1950)

Tel: +91 832 2462478 | +91 08007206134 | Panjim, Goa

[fredericknoronha5]

Obituary - Professor Peter F. J. Nazareth
(27 April, 1940 – 23 May, 2026)

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Peter Francis Joseph Nazareth at the age of 86. Peter was born in Kampala Uganda to the late P.C.S.C. Nazareth and Annie Nazareth, being the eldest of five, including siblings Ruth, John, David & Rex. He attended primary school in the Entebbe Goan School and then Kololo Secondary School, Kampala.

He excelled at several subjects especially English and Mathematics, but English Literature was his first love.

Peter did his undergraduate degree (B.A. Honours in English Literature) at Makerere University, Kampala in 1963 and a post-graduate degree in English at the University of Leeds in the UK in 1965.

He cut short further studies to return home at the death of his father. Politics made it difficult to obtain a lecturer’s position at Makerere and so he took on a job at the Ministry of Finance as a Senior Finance Officer. He excelled there in many areas – even running the first national lottery in Uganda.

Peter was recognized as both an African and Goan writer, and Uganda regarded him as one of its finest literary voices. Ironically, his work at the Ministry of Finance gave him the real-life insights that inspired his first novel, “In a Brown Mantle.” The novel appeared to foreshadow the expulsion of Asians, which took place around the time of its launch. Although Peter was exempted from the expulsion, he accepted a fellowship at Yale University, followed by a fellowship to the University of Iowa, a step that later led to tenure as a professor in English and African American Studies.

Although he was an expert on the works of Joseph Conrad and D.H. Lawrence among others, but it was a course on the music of Elvis Presley that got him worldwide media attention. He was presented a key to the city of Memphis by its mayor and given a private tour of Graceland. More important to him were the numerous students whom he taught and mentored over the course of five decades.

Peter married Mary Fernandes of Iringa Tanzania in 1964. In retirement Peter and Mary settled in Ashburn, Virginia. He is survived by Mary, daughters Kathleen (Dr. Randy Eccles) and Monique (Dr. Patrick Cronin), three grandsons Christopher, Aidan and Greyson, his siblings Ruth, John, David (Lydia). He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Rex, brother-in-law Cyril Fernandes, and sister-in-law Cynthia Nazareth.

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