Ruth Perry
| Ruth Perry | |
|---|---|
| Chair of the Council of State of Liberia | |
|
In office 3 September 1996 – 2 August 1997 |
|
| Preceded by | Wilton Sankawulo |
| Succeeded by | Charles Taylor (President) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
16 July 1939 Grand Cape Mount, Liberia |
| Died | 8 January 2017 (aged 77) Columbus, Ohio, U.S. |
| Political party | Unity Party |
| Alma mater | University of Liberia |
Ruth Sando Fahnbulleh Perry (July 16, 1939 – January 8, 2017) was a Liberian politician. She served as the interim Chairwoman of the Council of State of Liberia from 3 September 1996 until 2 August 1997, following the First Liberian Civil War. After eleven international peace attempts between 1990 and 1995 to end the civil war in Liberia, the attempts appeared to succeed. The interim Council of State consisted of a civilian chair, as well as members of warring factions: Charles Taylor, United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy-K leader Alhaji Kromah, Liberia Peace Council leader George Boley, and two other civilians.
Perry was known for being the first female president of Liberia and of contemporary Africa as a whole. Liberia also has the distinction of electing Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as the first elected female African leader in modern times.
Perry was born July 16, 1939, in a rural area of Grand Cape Mount County, Liberia, the daughter of Marjon and AlHaji Semila Fahnbulleh. She was a Muslim of Vai ethnic ancestry. As a child, Perry participated in the Sande society, a traditional school and secret society for females, and attended regular classes. Her parents later enrolled her in a Roman Catholic school for girls in Monrovia run by missionary nuns. Perry graduated from the Teachers College of the University of Liberia. She worked as an elementary school teacher in Grand Cape Mount County.
She married McDonald Perry, a judge and legislator and they had seven children. After her children were grown, Perry worked in the Monrovia office of Chase Manhattan Bank in 1971 and taught at a Sande school as an elder.
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