Fathia Nkrumah
| Fathia Nkrumah | |
|---|---|
Fathia Nkrumah with son Gamal
|
|
| First Lady of Ghana | |
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In role 1957/1958 – February 24, 1966 |
|
| Preceded by | Herself as First Lady of Ghana |
| Succeeded by | Mildred Christina Akosiwor Fugar |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Fathia Rizk February 22, 1932 Zeitoun, Cairo, Kingdom of Egypt |
| Died | 31 May 2007 (aged 75) Badrawy Hospital, Cairo, Egypt |
| Political party | Convention People's Party |
| Spouse(s) | Kwame Nkrumah |
| Children |
Gamal (born 1959) Samia (born 1960) Sekou (born 1963) |
| Profession | Teacher, Bank teller, First Lady |
| Religion | Coptic Christian |
Fathia Nkrumah (/nərˈkrʊˈmɑːr/ nər-KRUU-MAR) (February 22, 1932 – May 31, 2007); born Fathia Rizk; Arabic: فتحية رزق), was an Egyptian and the First Lady of the newly independent Ghana as the wife of the Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah, its first president.
Fathia Nkrumah was born and brought up in Zeitoun, a district of Cairo to an Egyptian Christian family. She was the third daughter of a civil servant who died early and Fathia was raised by her mother single-handedly after her husband's death.
After completing her secondary education, she worked as a teacher in her school, Notre Dame des Apôtres. As teaching did not appeal to her, she took a job in a bank. At that stage, Kwame Nkrumah proposed to marry her. Her mother was reluctant to see another of her children marry a foreigner and quit the country, as Fathia's brother had left Egypt with his English wife. Fathia explained that Nkrumah was an anti-colonial hero, like Nasser, yet her mother refused to speak to her or bless the marriage. Nkrumah married Fathia the evening of her arrival in Ghana: New Year's Eve, 1957–1958.
Fathia Nkrumah was a very young wife and mother of three very young children when her husband was overthrown in Ghana's first successful military coup d'état on February 24, 1966. She had to take her children to Cairo, Egypt to be raised there while her husband went into exile.
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