Valentin-Yves Mudimbe (born 8 December 1941, Jadotville, Belgian Congo) is a Congolese philosopher, professor, and author of poems, novels, as well as books and articles on African culture and intellectual history.
As a young man, he joined a monastery, but left in 1962 in order to study the forces that shaped African history.
[3] His work has had impact on many disciplines including African studies, Philosophy, Sociology, Anthropology, Linguistics, Literature, and History.
Mudimbe's work is considered as highly influential for African studies, notably for his major book The Invention of Africa (1988).
[4] His writings transformed the intellectual history of Africa by challenging the dominant historic reconstruction of Greek philosophy which according to him was racialised.