Kimani Ng'ang'a Maruge (c. 1920 - August 14, 2009) holds the Guinness World Record for being the oldest person to start primary school—he enrolled in the first grade in 2004, aged 84. Although he had no papers to prove his age, Maruge believed he was born in 1920.
School time
Maruge attended Kapkenduiywo Primary School in Eldoret, Kenya; he said that the government's announcement of universal and free elementary education in 2003 prompted him to enroll.
In 2005 Maruge, who was a model student, was elected head boy of his school.
In September 2005, Maruge boarded a plane for the first time in his life, and headed to New York City to address the United Nations Millennium Development Summit on the importance of free primary education.
Robbery
Maruge's property was stolen during the 2007-2008 post-election violence, and he contemplated quitting school. During early 2008 he lived in a refugee camp (where he was reportedly a minor celebrity) four kilometers from his school, but still attended classes every day [4]. In June 2008 he relocated to the capital Nairobi
In June, 2008, Maruge was forced to withdraw from school and relocate to a retirement home for senior citizens.[6]. However, soon after, on June 10 2008, Maruge enrolled once again into grade 6 at the Marura primary school, located in the Kariobangi area of Nairobi.
A film about Kimani Maruge, titled The First Grader, is set to be released. The US-produced film will be shot in South Africa due to incentives offered by the country
On Sunday May 24, 2009 Maruge was baptised at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Kariobangi and took a Christian name, Stephen
Maruge was then using a wheelchair.
Maruge was a widower, and a great-grandfather (two of his 30 grandchildren attend the same school). He was a combatant in the Mau Mau Uprising against the British colonizers in the 1950s.
Death
Maruge died on August 14, 2009 of stomach cancer, at the Cheshire Home for the Aged in Nairobi
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