Susan Ofori-Atta

Susan Ofori-Atta
DRCOG, DRCPCH, FGA
Ofori-Atta in the 1940s
Born
Susan Barbara Gyankorama Ofori-Atta

1917
Kyebi, Ghana
DiedJuly 1985 (aged 67–68)
United Kingdom
NationalityGhanaian
Alma mater
OccupationPhysician
Known for
SpouseE. V. C. de Graft-Johnson
Parents
Relatives
AwardsRoyal Cross
Medical career
Field
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Ghana Medical School

Susan Barbara Gyankorama Ofori-Atta, also de Graft-Johnson, DRCOG, DRCPCH, FGA (1917 – July 1985) was a Ghanaian medical doctor who was the first female doctor on the Gold Coast.[1][2][3][4][5] She was the first Ghanaian woman and fourth West African woman to earn a university degree.[1][2][6] Ofori-Atta was also the third West African woman to become a physician after the Nigerians Agnes Yewande Savage (1929) and Elizabeth Abimbola Awoliyi (1938).[7][8][9][10] In 1933, Sierra Leonean political activist and higher education pioneer, Edna Elliot-Horton became the second West African woman university graduate and the first to earn a bachelor's degree in the liberal arts.[1] Eventually Ofori-Atta became a medical officer-in-charge at the Kumasi Hospital, and later, she assumed in charge of the Princess Louise Hospital for Women.[1] Her contemporary was Matilda J. Clerk, the second Ghanaian woman and fourth West African woman to become a physician, who was also educated at Achimota and Edinburgh.[1] Ofori-Atta was made an Honorary Doctor of Science by the University of Ghana for her work on malnutrition in children, and received the Royal Cross from Pope John Paul II when he visited Ghana in 1980, in recognition of her offering of free medical services at her clinic.[11] She helped to establish the Women's Society for Public Affairs and was a Foundation Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.[12] Her achievements were a symbol of inspiration to aspiring women physicians in Ghana.[12]

  1. ^ a b c d e Adell Patton (1996). Physicians, Colonial Racism, and Diaspora in West Africa. University Press of Florida. pp. 29–. ISBN 978-0-8130-1432-6.
  2. ^ a b Richard Rathbone (1993). Murder and Politics in Colonial Ghana. Yale University Press. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-300-05504-7. Archived from the original on 14 April 2017.
  3. ^ Tetty, Charles (1985). "Medical Practitioners of African Descent in Colonial Ghana". The International Journal of African Historical Studies. 18 (1): 139–144. doi:10.2307/217977. JSTOR 217977. PMID 11617203. S2CID 7298703.
  4. ^ Ferry, Georgina (November 2018). "Agnes Yewande Savage, Susan Ofori-Atta, and Matilda Clerk: three pioneering doctors". The Lancet. 392 (10161): 2258–2259. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32827-7. ISSN 0140-6736. S2CID 53713242.
  5. ^ "Susan Ofori-Atta, the first Ghanaian female doctor in the Gold Coast -". Ghanaian Museum. 19 January 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  6. ^ Schmid, Pascal (April 2018). Medicine, Faith and Politics in Agogo: A History of Health Care Delivery in Rural Ghana, Ca. 1925 to 1980. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 297. ISBN 9783643802613.
  7. ^ "CAS Students to Lead Seminar On University's African Alumni, Pt. IV: Agnes Yewande Savage". Postgrads from the Edge. 16 November 2016. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Tabitha Medical Center | Celebrating African Women in Medicine". www.tabithamedicalcenter.com. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  9. ^ Anibaba, Musliu Olaiya (2003). A Lagosian of the 20th century: an autobiography. Tisons Limited. ISBN 9789783557116. Archived from the original on 23 December 2016.
  10. ^ Mitchell, Henry (November 2016). "Dr Agnes Yewande Savage – West Africa's First Woman Doctor (1906-1964)". Centre of African Studies. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017.
  11. ^ Cecilia J. Dumor (August 2002). Nelson Thornes West African Readers Junior Readers 3. Nelson Thornes. pp. 124–. ISBN 978-0-7487-7034-2. Archived from the original on 21 April 2017.
  12. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).