Lukowa Kidima, a linguist in the UCLA Library who also taught in the department of linguistics, passed away on August 21, 2013, at the UCLA Medical Center following a stroke. He was 63.
Born on December 10, 1949, in Bandundu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kidima earned a B.A. in English at the Université de Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he became an assistant professor/lecturer. In 1982, he came to the United States as a Fulbright Scholar, earning an M.A. in linguistics at the University of Pittsburgh, and, at UCLA, a Ph.D. in linguistics as well as an master's degree in public health.
Fluent in several languages including French, Swahili, Kiyaka, Portuguese and Spanish, Kidima began his UCLA Library career in 1995 as a library assistant working with bibliographers for African and International studies and Latin American and Iberian studies. He also worked on many special projects, most recently the the library's Digital Maps-in-Books digitization project in coordination with Library Special Collections and the Digital Library Program. Throughout his career, Kidima hired, trained, and supervised numerous student assistants, many of whom remained in touch with him as a friend and mentor.
In addition to his library work and teaching at UCLA, Kidima taught English as a Second Language classes at Glendale Community College for many years. In recent years, he was also deeply involved in several development projects in the Congo.
Kidima is survived by his mother, Oscarine Lukowa; his former wife, Uzany Yvette Muteb; son and daughter Bellardine and Joel, as well as a sister, two brothers, and several nieces and nephews.
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Source: Ucla
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