This volume is the outcome of a 2-day workshop organised at the African Studies Centre, University of Leiden, in September 2016 for the specific purpose of investigating the relation between biographical research and historiography in the context of African studies. The case studies in this volume all discuss the importance of the subjective or biographical turn in historical research on Africa. They show the different ways in which an analytical focus on the individual, or persona, can enhance and complicate our view and understanding of Africa’s history.
I would like to thank the authors for their willingness to participate in the 2016 workshop and discuss and revise the various drafts of their contributions to the volume. I am grateful to Jan-Bart Gewald and Meike de Goede for discussing the numerous issues involved in the study of biography and life histories. Finally, I would like to thank Harry Wels for his editorial support, Anna Yeadell for her careful language editing and Nel de Vink for the production of the maps.