Elizabeth Isichei

Elizabeth Allo Isichei (born 22 March 1939 in Tauranga, New Zealand) is a Nigerian author, historian and academic. Her parents are Albert (an agricultural scientist) and Lorna Allo. On 23 July 1964 she married Uche Peter Isichei (a chemical pathologist) and they have five children. In 1959 she earned her BA from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, B.A. In 1961 she completed her M.A. at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and in 1967 she completed her PhD at Oxford University. She was a Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Otago. She has been a professor in the Department of History, University of Jos in Jos, Nigeria since 1976. She is the general editor for Jos Oral History and Literature Texts.

Her works and books are centred on Christianity in Africa and the history of Nigeria particularly the Igbo people.

Selected works

• 1964: Political Thinking and Social Experience: Some Christian Interpretations of the Roman Empire, University of Canterbury Publications
• 1970: Victorian Quakers, Oxford University Press
• 1973: The Ibo People and the Europeans: The Genesis of a Relationship, to 1906, St. Martin's
• 1976: A History of the Igbo People, St. Martin's
• 1977: A History of West Africa since 1800, Africana
• 1977: Igbo Worlds: An Anthology of Oral History and Historical Descriptions, Institute for the Study of Human Issues
• 1981: Entirely for God: The Life of Michael Iwene Tansi, Macmillan Nigeria
• 1982: Studies in the History of Plateau State, Nigeria, Macmillan
• 1983: A History of Nigeria, Longman
• 1995: A History of Christianity in Africa: From Antiquity to the Present, Africa World Press
• 1997: A History of African Societies to 1870, Cambridge University Press
• 2002: Voices of the Poor in Africa, University of Rochester Press (Rochester, NY)
• 2004: The Religious Traditions of Africa: A History, Raeger (Westport, CT)
• 2005: Stoptide, Steele Roberts (Aotearoa, New Zealand)