Durodola Durosomo Duroorike Timothy Adisa Ladipo (December 18, 1926 – March 11, 1978), more commonly known as Duro Ladipo, was one of the best known and critically acclaimed Yoruba dramatists who emerged from postcolonial Africa. Writing solely in the Yoruba language, he captivated the symbolic spirit of Yoruba mythologies in his plays, which were later adapted to other media such as photography, television and cinema. His most famous play, Ọba kò so (The King did not Hang), a dramatization of the traditional Yoruba story of how Ṣango became the Orisha of Thunder, received international acclaim at the first Commonwealth Arts Festival in 1965 and on a Europe an tour, where a Berlin critic, Ulli Beier, compared Ladipọ to Karajan. Ladipo usually acted in his own plays. Early life Durodola Durosomo (or Durosinmi) Duroorike Timothy Adisa Ladipo was born on December 18, 1926 to Joseph Oni Ladipo and Dorcas Towobola Ajike Ladipo. Many sources claim he was born in 1931, but this was most likely erroneously stated. Because Ladipo was born after nine of his parents' children died before the age of one, Ladipo was believed to be an abiku. Abiku, meaning born to die, is a Yoruba concept in which there are spirits that possess the bodies of several children of a parent and exist to cause pain and sadness for him or her. The only way this could be solved was by engaging in intense spritiual rituals made to tie the child down to this world or convince the evil spirit that its death would not bring sadness. This was why some children can be seen with unaffectionate names. Ladipo being believed to be an abiku can be seen by his many names beginning with dúró, a Yoruba word meaning to stay, wait, or remain. His name Dúródọlá means "wait for wealth," trying to convince him to stay and enjoy life, Dúróṣọmọ́ means "stay to be our child," another variation, Dúrósinmí means "stay to bury me," and Dúróoríkẹ́ means "stay to see how much we will care for you." Despite the fact that both Joseph and Dorcas Ladipo were devout Anglican Christians who rejected the beliefs of their parents, they were so troubled by the apparent abiku possession that for Ladipo, they went to a traditional Ifa priest, or Babalawo. After Duro survived infancy, his parents had five more children, including a set of twins, who all survived infancy.