Fathia Nkrumah

Fathia Nkrumah
Fathia Nkrumah with son Gamal
1st First Lady of Ghana
In role
1957/1958 – 24 February 1966
Succeeded byMildred Christina Akosiwor Fugar
Personal details
Born
Fathia Halim Rizk

(1932-02-22)22 February 1932
Zeitoun, Cairo, Kingdom of Egypt
Died31 May 2007(2007-05-31) (aged 75)
Badrawy Hospital, Cairo, Egypt
Political partyConvention People's Party
Spouse
(m. 1957; died 1972)
ChildrenGamal (born 1958)
Samia (born 1960)
Francis (born 1962)
Sekou (born 1964)
ProfessionTeacher, Bank teller, First Lady
ReligionCoptic Christian

Helena Ritz Fathia Nkrumah (/nərˈkrʊˈmɑːr/ nər-KRUU-MAR) (22 February 1932 – 31 May 2007),[1][2] born Fathia Halim Rizk (Arabic: فتحية حليم رزق), was an Egyptian, and the First Lady of the newly independent Ghana as the wife of Kwame Nkrumah, its first president.

Fathia Nkrumah was born to a Coptic Christian family and brought up in Zeitoun, a district of Cairo. She was the first child of a civil servant who died early; Fathia was raised by her mother single-handedly after her husband's death.[3]

  1. ^ Reynolds, R. Harry (16 February 2007). "Fathia Nkrumah Unwell". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  2. ^ "Fathia Nkrumah is dead". Ghana Web. 31 May 2007. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  3. ^ "How a beautiful and naive young Egyptian woman became Kwame Nkrumah's wife". GhanaWeb. 2022-04-30. Retrieved 2023-09-29.