Kwame Nkrumah
|
The Right Honorable Kwame Nkrumah PC |
|
|---|---|
.jpg) |
|
| 1st President of Ghana | |
|
In office 1 July 1960 – 24 February 1966 |
|
| Preceded by |
Elizabeth II as Queen of Ghana |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Arthur Ankrah |
| 3rd Chairperson of the Organisation of African Unity | |
|
In office 21 October 1965 – 24 February 1966 |
|
| Preceded by | Gamal Abdel Nasser |
| Succeeded by |
Joseph Arthur Ankrah as Chairman of the National Liberation Council |
| 1st Prime Minister of Ghana | |
|
In office 6 March 1957 – 1 July 1960 |
|
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governor-General |
Charles Arden-Clarke The Lord Listowel |
| Preceded by | Himself as Prime Minister of the Gold Coast |
| Succeeded by | Himself as President |
| 1st Prime Minister of the Gold Coast | |
|
In office 21 March 1952 – 6 March 1957 |
|
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governor-General | Charles Arden-Clarke |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Himself as Prime Minister of Ghana |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
18 September 1909 Nkroful, Gold Coast (now Ghana) |
| Died | 27 April 1972 (aged 62) Bucharest, Romania |
| Political party |
United Gold Coast Convention (1947–1949) Convention People's Party (1949–1966) |
| Spouse(s) | Fathia Rizk |
| Children | Francis Gamal Samia Sekou |
| Alma mater |
Lincoln University, Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania London School of Economics University College London Gray's Inn |
| Religion | baptized Roman Catholic; by 1957, "non-denominational Christian" |
Kwame Nkrumah PC (18 or 21 September, 1909 – 27 April 1972) led Ghana to independence from Britain in 1957 and served as its first prime minister and president. Nkrumah first gained power as leader of the colonial Gold Coast, and held it until he was deposed in 1966.
An influential 20th-century advocate of Pan-Africanism, he was a founding member of the Organization of African Unity and was the winner of the Lenin Peace Prize in 1962.
Kwame Nkrumah was born in about 1909 in Nkroful, Gold Coast. Although his mother, whose name was Nyanibah, later stated his year of birth was 1912, Nkrumah wrote that he was born on 18 September 1909, a Saturday. By the naming customs of the Akan people, he was given the name Kwame, the name given to males born on a Saturday. During his years as a student in the United States, though, he was known as Francis Nwia Kofi Nkrumah - Kofi is the name given to males born on Friday. The name of his father is not known; most accounts say he was a goldsmith. According to Ebenezer Obiri Addo in his study of the future president, the name "Nkrumah", a name traditionally given to a ninth child, indicates that Kwame likely held that place in the house of his father, who had several wives. Kwame was the only child of his mother.
Nkroful was a small village, in the far southwest of the Gold Coast, close to the frontier with the French colony of the Ivory Coast. His father did not live with the family, but worked in Half Assini before his death while Kwame was a boy. Kwame Nkrumah was raised by his mother and his extended family, who lived together in traditional fashion, with more distant relatives often visiting. He lived a carefree childhood, spent in the village, in the bush, and on the nearby sea.
...
Wikipedia