Leroy Vail | |
|---|---|
| Professor of African History, Harvard University | |
| In office 1990–1999 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Hazen Leroy Vail August 5, 1940 Boston, Massachusetts |
| Died | March 27, 1999 (aged 58) Concord, Massachusetts, |
| Cause of death | Lymphoma |
| Spouse | Patricia Ann Horochena |
| Children | Sharon Mulenga (adopted) |
| Parent(s) | Hazen Claude Vail, Mary Teresa MacLean |
| Education | Boston College, University of Wisconsin – Madison |
| Occupation | Historian |
Leroy Vail (August 5, 1940 – March 27, 1999) whose birth name was Hazen Leroy Vail, was an American specialist in African studies and educator who specialized in the history and linguistics of Central Africa and later extended his interests to Southern Africa. He taught in universities in Malawi, Zambia and the United States and his research in the first two countries inclined him toward the view that Central Africa underwent a period of underdevelopment that began in the mid-19th century and accelerated under colonial rule. After his return to the United States, he cooperated with Landeg White on studies of colonial Mozambique and on the value of African poetry and songs as a source of oral history.