All About Lupita Nyong’o’s Parents, Anyang’ and Dorothy Nyong’o

Lupita Nyong'o is a multi-hyphenate talent much like her parents

Lupita Nyong’o has her parents, Anyang’ and Dorothy Nyong’o, to thank for her love for the arts.

The pair raised their five children in Kenya, where going to the theater was a weekly activity and listening to their dad recite Shakespeare in the car was routine. Though they’re thespians at heart, Anyang’ and Dorothy pursued careers in the humanitarian space, respectively working in politics and philanthropy — areas Lupita continues to explore in her own work with nonprofits.

Lupita’s father was a visiting professor in Mexico City when the Black Panther star was born. The family moved back to Kenya around a year later, where Lupita grew up with her parents as sources of inspiration.

“I definitely feel very fortunate for having such strong role models in my immediate family,” Lupita said in a 2022 interview with The Talks. “My parents raised us with the conditioning that we could do whatever we put our minds to. They did not limit us by gender or age necessarily.”

From supporting her acting career to raising a family of five, here’s everything to know about Lupita Nyong’o’s parents, Anyang’ and Dorothy Nyong’o.

They work in politics and philanthropy

Early in his career, Anyang’, whose full name is Peter Anyang’, was a professor at the University of Nairobi, where he taught courses in political science and acted as a visiting professor in other institutions. In the early ‘80s, he was invited to help establish an African studies center at El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City, where Lupita was born.

He then transitioned into a career in politics in the early 2000s, serving as the Minister for Medical Services in the government of Kenya and Minister for Planning and National Development. By 2013, Anyang’ became a member of the Kenyan senate, representing Kisumu County. Four years later in December 2017, he was elected as governor of the county and he still assumes the role.

As for Lupita’s mother, Dorothy, she currently serves as the managing trustee of the Africa Cancer Foundation and is also the managing director of her own communications company, 7th Sense Communications Limited. Dorothy also acts as the First Lady of Kisumu County alongside her husband.

They share five children

Anyang’ and Dorothy raised a big family and welcomed five children into their lives — four girls and one boy. Their eldest, Zawadi, is a yoga practitioner and meditation specialist who founded her own African yoga-inspired social enterprise in Kenya, ZeroByZawadi. Lupita is the second eldest of the bunch, and she is followed by her younger sisters, Fiona and Esperanza, and younger brother, Peter Junior, who is also an actor.

Back in 2014, Peter Junior, who professionally goes by Junior, went viral for being a part of Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscar selfie that saw him smiling next to Bradley Cooper while Lupita was peeking behind him. In an interview with DeGeneres following the Academy Awards, Lupita opened up about her brother’s viral moment. “He lives life in an exclamation point, and he just saw that opportunity and he was like ‘I’m getting in, this is my only chance!' " she said.

Lupita often posts TikToks and pictures with her siblings on social media, and she even shared a sweet photo of them all together to celebrate National Siblings Day in 2022. “My siblings. Fully grown, fully cheesing and full of love,” she wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Happy #NationalSiblingsDay."

They supported Lupita’s love for acting as a child

The Oscar winning actress’ love for the craft began in her youth in Kenya, and she often credits her parents for opening that world to her. In a 2014 interview with USA Today, Lupita shed light on her artistic upbringing, sharing that her father used to act in high school and would often read Shakespeare to her growing up.

According to Lupita, the family “always went to the theater” and their get-togethers at home typically included rallying up all the kids to put on a performance for fun. Lupita’s love for acting didn’t go unnoticed by her father, who reflected on his daughter’s early talent in a 2014 interview with NPR.

“I remember in kindergarten, when she was 5, we went to a parents day, and she was leading a bunch of kids on the stage, singing and entertaining parents,” he recalled. “Then she came on stage singing this Swahili song … and she just did wonders. That’s when we realized that this child is in for something.”

Her parents were ultimately supportive of her pursuing theater as a career. “All of [my children] kind of took to the arts really, because I myself was a student of literature, political science and philosophy in college,” Anyang' explained to NPR. “And I kind of didn’t see that it is necessary to steamroll a kid into a particular career.”

They named her Lupita to honor her birthplace

Much like her dual citizenship in Kenya and Mexico, Lupita’s name is also a blend honoring both cultures. Her family are from the ethnic group Luo, where it’s tradition to name a child after the events of the day surrounding their birth. When Lupita was born in Mexico, her parents decided to honor her birthplace by giving her a name that’s a diminutive of the patron saint of Mexicans, Guadalupe.

Lupita’s name also honors her father by combining his first name, Peter, with the verb “to follow.”

“My father’s name is Peter, and in our language to ‘luo’ means ‘to follow.’ So [my parents] thought it was a cool play on words of ‘I followed Peter to Mexico,’ ” Lupita explained of her creative name in a 2014 interview with The Daily Beast.

Anyang’ was targeted for political activism

Although Lupita typically recalls the more positive sides to her upbringing, the Nyong’o’s haven’t shied away from sharing the details surrounding political oppression that directly affected their family. Her father’s brother, Charles Nyong’o, was a prominent student activist who opposed the regime of then Kenyan president, Daniel arap Moi. He mysteriously disappeared in 1980, which prompted Anyang’ to flee to Mexico for his family’s safety.

“My brother disappeared in 1980. It was a very difficult time politically. We never recovered his body and it was never resolved who was behind the murder,” Anyang’ said in a 2014 interview with The Independent. “Even now, no information has come to light. I know he was on a ferry in Mombasa and witnesses who I managed to talk to told me clearly that it was not an accident and he had been attacked and pushed off the ferry. But the witnesses were too terrified to testify to the police.”

When the Nyong’os moved back to Kenya, Anyang’ was subject to harassment and arrest, which forced the family to hide out in safe houses. “It was a very insecure time. We were moving from one place to another, which was not good for Lupita and Peter Junior,” Anyang’ recalled to The Independent.

“I was being picked up monthly and weekly. It would depend on the period. … It was mainly psychological for me, although it was physical for others,” he said. “You could not wash for days, you were harassed, threatened, you couldn’t sleep and it becomes unbearable.”

In a 2016 conversation with Trevor Noah for The New York Times, Lupita reflected on this period of unrest in her childhood. “My parents shielded us from a lot,” she began. “It would be dangerous for us to know things because then we could be a target. So they raised us with a semblance of normalcy. There were times when we were under house arrest and couldn’t go to school. I knew we were in a different situation than my friends.”

Her mother was adamant about keeping things as normal as possible in their home, however. “Even when things were out of sorts, my mother ran the house like always," Lupita said. "You were in that bathtub at 6, you were in bed at 7. I remember my father being gone for long stretches when he was detained without trial. But I was optimistic enough to hold onto my mother’s saying, ‘He’ll be back.’ I wasn’t allowed to lean into it.”

They support Lupita on red carpets

From film premieres to award shows, Lupita’s parents are no strangers to supporting their daughter on the red carpet. The pair, particularly Dorothy, have attended numerous events alongside their daughter, including the 2014 BAFTA awards and the 2018 world premiere for Black Panther, where Lupita also co-designed her mother’s dress for the evening.

Dorothy even pulled through for the premiere of Jordan Peele’s Us in 2019, despite not being a fan of horror. “I’m happy she was there, I can assure you that’s not her favorite film of mine,” Lupita told PEOPLE in 2019. “But, she is supportive until the day she dies. She will sit through, despite the fact that she doesn’t have the spine for it. That kind of thing warms my heart because I know she’s my number one fan whether she can handle my madness or not.”

Anyang’ and Dorothy also watched their daughter take home a statue at the 2014 Academy Awards, where she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her work in 12 Years A Slave.

“As a parent you get kind of taken aback at how wise the little ones have become and we almost shedded tears when we heard those words of wisdom,” Anyang’ said to NPR at the time, as he reflected on Lupita’s acceptance speech during the ceremony. “It was quite a wonderful evening.”

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