Alfred Hitchcock vs Chinua Achebe
Two child prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Alfred Hitchcock | Chinua Achebe | |
| Field | Film | Literature |
| Sub-field | Screenwriter | Novelist |
| Born | 1899 | 1930 |
| Died | 1980 | 2013 |
| Country of birth | United Kingdom | Colonial Nigeria |
| Star sign | Leo | Scorpio |
Who they are
Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1899, in Leytonstone, a quiet district of east London, to a greengrocer and his wife. He was a shy, overweight child who found that stories — their architecture, their capacity to generate unease — interested him more than almost anything else. His father once sent him to the local police station with a note, and the duty officer locked him in a cell for five minutes as a lesson in what happens to naughty boys. Hitchcock later described this as the defining trauma of his life, the…
Full biography of Alfred Hitchcock →
Chinua Achebe
Father of African Literature · Author of Things Fall Apart 20 million copies sold · 57 languages translated · Most widely read African novel in history Born November 16, 1930 · Ogidi, Nigeria · Died March 21, 2013
Full biography of Chinua Achebe →
What they share
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Different fields: Film for Alfred Hitchcock, Literature for Chinua Achebe.
- Born in different countries: United Kingdom and Colonial Nigeria.
- 31 years separate their births (1899 and 1930).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Alfred Hitchcock or Chinua Achebe?
- Alfred Hitchcock. Alfred Hitchcock was born in 1899, Chinua Achebe in 1930.
- What field is each of them in?
- Alfred Hitchcock is filed under Film (Screenwriter). Chinua Achebe is filed under Literature (Novelist).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.