Author Bannerman Helen

Helen Bannerman (1862–1946) was the Scottish author of a number of children's books, the most famous being Little Black Sambo. She was born in Edinburgh and, because women were not admitted as students into British Universities, she sat external examinations set by the University of St. Andrews and attained the qualification of LLA. She lived for a good proportion of her life in India, where her husband William Bannerman was an officer in the Indian Medical Service. The heroes of many of her books are recognizably south Indian or Tamil children from the illustrations and use of words like Little Black Sambo has Ghee, Tigers, Bazaar, Little Black Mingo has Jungle, Mugger, Dhobi, Mongoose, Little Black Quasha has Bazaar, Tigers, Little Black Quibba has Mangoes and Elephants and have nothing to do with Africa or African people. And despite the plots having no particularly racist overtones and usually celebrating the intelligence and ingenuity of the children, the name Sambo has become a s