Lupita Nyong’o

Nyong’o in 2014, photo by Prphotos.com

Birth Name: Lupita Amondi Nyong’o

Place of Birth: Mexico City, Mexico

Date of Birth: 1 March, 1983

Ethnicity: Luo Kenyan

Lupita Nyong’o is an actress, author, director, and narrator, who is a citizen of Mexico, Kenya, and the U.S. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for 12 Years a Slave (2013). She is also known for her roles in the films Non-Stop, the Star Wars franchise, The Jungle Book (2016), Queen of Katwe, Black Panther, and its sequel; Little Monsters, Us, The 355, A Quiet Place: Day One, and The Wild Robot; and on the shows Shuga, Star Wars Forces of Destiny, and Serengeti, the latter two in voice-over. She wrote the children’s book Sulwe. She is active in animal rights, women’s rights, and historic preservation.

Lupita was born in Mexico City, Mexico, to Luo Kenyan parents, Dorothy Ogada Buyu Nyong’o and Anyang’ Nyong’o (Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o). Her father is a college professor and politician, who has been Governor of Kisumu County, since 2017, and had previously served as a Member of Parliament, from 2003 to 2013, and a Minister of Medical Services, from 2008 to 2013; all in Kenya. Her parents were living Mexico at the time of her birth because her father was a political enemy of Daniel arap Moi, who was President of Kenya from 1978 to 2002. Her father’s brother, Charles, died in a fall from a boat, possibly as a politically-motivated murder to intimidate Lupita’s family. Lupita’s father was working as a visiting lecturer at a Mexican university when she was born.

It is a Luo tradition to name a child after the day’s events, and so, because of the family’s Mexican residence and her Mexican birth, she was named Lupita as a tribute to Guadalupe, Our Lady of Guadalupe. Lupita’s parents moved back to Kenya in the mid 1980s, though Lupita spent some more time in Mexico, in Taxco, Guerrero, during her teen years. Her father was imprisoned and tortured by the Kenyan government in 1987. She is fluent in Spanish, Luo, English, and Swahili. She attended college in the U.S., working as a production assistant, and then beginning her acting career.

Lupita’s paternal grandmother was named Dorca Owino Amolo. Dorca was born in Agok, Uyoma, Kenya.

Lupita’s maternal grandfather was named Laban Onyango Buyu (the son of Adere/Adero Buyu). Laban was born in Kisumu, Kisumu, Nyanza, Kenya.

Lupita’s maternal grandmother was named Roscmcll Jane Achieng.

One of Lupita’s great-great-grandfathers was named Nyawang’ Ogwal.