Ulli Beier was a scientist, writer, cultural icon and pioneer of contemporary African art and culture. Ulli was born in Glowitz, Germany in 1922. During World War II, his family fled Nazi Germany to Palestine. In 1950, Ulli moved to Nigeria with his first wife, the artist Susanne Wenger, to teach at the University College Ibadan. His students included eminent writers such as Wole Soyinka and the late Chinua Achebe.
In 1957, Ulli Beier founded the magazine Black Orpheus, the first African literary magazine in English. In 1962, he co-founded the Mbari Club in Ibadan, a cultural meeting place for intellectuals, artists, writers and playwrights. The following year he opened a similar club in Oshogbo, the Mbari Mbayo Centre.
In Oshogbo, Ulli and his second wife Georgina organized cultural workshops and helped launch the careers of many renowned international artists such as Prince Seven-Seven, Muraina Oyelami, Jimoh Buraimoh, Nike Ogundaye, etc.
The Beiers left Nigeria in 1966 to teach in Papua, New Guinea. In 1981 Ulli founded the first large African cultural center in Europe called “Iwalewa-Haus” in Bayreuth. He retired to Australia, where he died in 2011 at the age of 88.
