Corinne Hofmann
- Writer
Corinne Hofmann, daughter of a French mother and a German father, was
born on 4th June 1960 in Frauenfeld, Switzerland. At the age of 21, she
opened a boutique where she sold bridal gown and second hand-clothes.
During a trip to Kenya in 1986 with her then-boyfriend she met Lketinga
Leparmorijo, a Samburu-warrior, who she was instantly fascinated from.
Half a year later and back in Switzerland, she decided to find the
stranger, which was not that easy since she only had photos and he
lived in the bush near Barsaloi, a small village in northern Kenya,
hundreds of miles away from Mombasa, where she had met him first. After
three months and an adventurous travel through Nairobi and Maralal, she
finally found him. Things worked out the way she had wished with all
her heart; they lived together in a cow dung and mud hut and married in
1988. At that time, Corinne opened a shop to ensure the tribe's supply
with nourishments, which improved the people's situation enormously.
Corinne got pregnant soon, but also became seriously ill and was forced
to stay at the hospital in Wamba for several weeks. Fortunately, she
recovered and gave birth to their daughter Napirai. Everything seemed
to be alright, when Lketinga started to become more and more jealous.
He accused his wife of having relationships to other men, which was
just disgracing since the only thing Corinne wanted was stay with her
beloved man and their little girl. The situation exacerbated, also
because Corinne became ill again and could not run her shop anymore.
The couple decided to move to Mombasa, where they opened a new shop for
tourists. Even though their financial situation became better, the
relationship between Corinne and Lketinga did not recover. In 1990,
Corinne finally left her husband and went back to Switzerland. She had
several successful jobs and, around 1997, started to write the first
novel about her life in Kenya; a second one about the time back in
Europe ("Back From Africa"). After more than 14 years, she visited
Barsaloi for the first time since her flight. Her Kenyan family
welcomed her warmly and Corinne was especially happy to see her former
mother-in-law again. She also visited the shootings to the movie "The
White Massai" and got to know Nina Hoss, who portrayed her. The novel
about her travel to Kenya is called "Reunion in Barsaloi".