Norman Robert Bennett,93, died peacefully in his sleep on June 1st.  A native of Marlborough, Massachusetts, Norman studied at Tufts University, Princeton University, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and earned his PhD in African History from Boston University.  Although he applied to Tufts to study dentistry, he fast developed a love of history and was among the first Professors of African History at the nationally recognized African Studies Center of Boston University where he founded and edited the International Journal of African History, from 1967 until 1999 when he retired as Professor Emeritus.

Norman was the author and editor of dozens of books on the history of nineteenth century East Central Africa. His Arab versus European: Diplomacy and War in Nineteenth Century East Central Africa (1986), Mirambo of Tanzania ca. 1840-1888 (1971), and A History of the Arab State of Zanzibar (1978) remain classics in the field. The latter was recently expanded and translated into Arabic (2018).  He was a lifetime member and served as President of the African Studies Association (USA) as well as a life member of the American Historical Association, and was elected an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences of Belgium.

By 1980, Norman shifted his research focus to the history of the port wine and cod fish trades of the Northern Atlantic from the 17thto 19th century. His focus was the port city of Porto, Portugal and the largely British firms plying the trades.  He published dozens of articles and chapters. His research produced new insights into the complexities of the Brandy trade and struggles around wine demarcations in the region. By 2026, he had largely mapped trade in and out of Porto throughout these centuries.  He worked on his research daily up to a week before he died.

Norman traveled extensively for his work, living among other places in Paris, France; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,; Naples Italy; Hamburg, Germany; Porto Portugal; and Maputo, Mozambique.  In the late 1950s, he travelled from Zanzibar to the headwaters of the Nile and down to Cairo.  When he had the opportunity, he loved to visit Western Europe and Southern Africa.  In 1984, he founded a home-based book business, Livros / Africana-Portuguesa, where he sold books he had purchased throughout Southern Africa and Portugal.

Norman was a dedicated New Englander, a lifelong patron of the BSO, and a Red Sox and Patriots fan (though he would have told you his first favorite team was the Boston Braves). He loved the sea and summered on Nantucket for years before moving to Duxbury in 1984. In 1976, he married Jeanne Marie Penvenne. Their sons John Norman Bennett and Louis Penvenne Bennett spent their early years on Nantucket, lived in Portugal and Mozambique for periods of time, but were raised in Duxbury.  The family took picnic suppers to the beach's bay side on late summer afternoons when Norman and Jeanne had wrapped up work, after which Norman often enjoyed a good swim in the ocean. John and Louis subsequently brought their families to enjoy the bogs, beach and woodlands. Norman enjoyed 50 years of marriage and 93 years of full living.

Norman was predeceased by his parents Viola Belmore Bennett and Norman Bennett and his sister Barbara Bennett Stuart. He leaves his wife, Jeanne Marie Penvenne, his sons John (Simrin Parmar), Louis (Shauna Sadowski) and their children Mika Sage Sadowski Bennett, Kavi Norman-Singh Bennett, Remy Carter Sadowski Bennett, Tej Sanjeev-Singh Bennett and many in-laws, nieces, nephews, and grand- and great-grand-nieces and -nephews.

Visiting Hours will take place Sunday, June 7th at the Shepherd Funeral Home, 216 Main St, Kingston from 4:00 to 6:00pm. A graveside service will take place on Monday, June 8th at Mayflower Cemetery in Duxbury at 10:00am.People wishing to donate in Norman's honor might consider Cranberry Hospice Plymouth MA or the American Civil Liberties Union.