Agnes Yewande Savage (21 February 1906 – 1964) was a Nigerian medical doctor and the first

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

n woman to train and qualify in

orthodox medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

. Savage was the first West African woman to receive a university degree in medicine, graduating with first-class honours from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in 1929 at the age of 23. In 1933,

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

an Political Activist, political activist and

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

pioneer,

Edna Elliott-Horton Edna Elliott-Horton (13 September 1904 – 26 March 1994) was the second West African woman from a British colony to receive a university degree after the Nigerian physician Agnes Yewande Savage, who received a medical degree from the University ...

became the second West African woman university graduate and the first to earn a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in the

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

Life

Early life and education

Savage was born on 21 February 1906 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, to

Richard Akinwande Savage Richard Akinwande Savage (1874–1935) was a prominent physician, journalist and politician in Lagos, Nigeria during the colonial era. Early years Richard Akinwande Savage was born in 1874, the son of a successful merchant in Lagos descended fr ...

Sr, a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

medical doctor, newspaper publisher and a 1900 Edinburgh graduate of Sierra Leone Creole descent and Maggie S. Bowie, a working-class Scotswoman. Her brother was

Richard Gabriel Akinwande Savage Major Richard Gabriel Akinwande Savage (1903–1993) was a physician, soldier, and the first person of West African heritage to receive a British Army commission. Early life and family He was born in 1903 at 15 Buccleugh Place, in Edinburgh, S ...

, also a doctor who graduated from Edinburgh in 1926. Savage passed exams to the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

in 1919 and was given a scholarship to study at

George Watson's Ladies College George Watson's College is a co-educational independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a hospital school in 1741, became a day school in 1871, and was merge ...

. There, she received an award for General Proficiency in Class Work and passed the Scottish Higher Education Leaving Certificate. She entered

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

to study medicine, excelled in her studies. In her fourth year of medical school, she obtained first class honours in all subjects, won a prize in Diseases of the Skin and a medal in Forensic Medicine – becoming the first woman in the history of Edinburgh to do so. She was awarded the Dorothy Gilfillan Memorial Prize as the best woman graduate in 1929.

Medical career and legacy

Savage faced gender and racial institutional barriers in her career. After graduation, she joined the colonial service in the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

(present-day Ghana) as a Junior Medical Officer. Though better qualified than most of her male counterparts, she received fewer benefits. In 1931, she was recruited by the headmaster of

Achimota College Achimota School ( /ɑːtʃimoʊtɑː/ ), formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana. The schoo ...

. At the urging of the headmaster,

Alec Garden Fraser Alexander Garden Fraser (6 October 1873 – 27 January 1962), , was a British educator and Anglican vicar. He was one of the founders of Achimota School and the first principal of the school (1924–1935). The other founders were Sir Frederick ...

, the colonial government gave her a better contract. She was with

Achimota Achimota ( ), is a town in the Accra Metropolitan District, a district of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Achimota means "speak no name" in the Ga language Ga is a Kwa language spoken in Ghana, in and around the capital Accra. There ar ...

for four years as a

medical officer A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and a teacher. While at Achimota, she came into contact with Susan de Graft-Johnson when the latter was the Girls' School Prefect. Johnson regularly worked with Savage at the sick bayVieta, K. T. (1999). ''The Flagbearers of Ghana: Profiles of one hundred distinguished Ghanaians''. Accra, Ghana: Ena Pubs. and later went on to also study medicine at the University of Edinburgh, becoming Ghana's first female medical doctor. Another West African woman medical pioneer who studied at both Achimota and

was

Matilda J. Clerk Matilda Johanna Clerk (2 March 1916 – 27 December 1984) was a medical pioneer and a science educator on the Gold Coast and later in Ghana as well as the second Ghanaian woman to become an orthodox medicine-trained physician. The first wo ...

, who became the first Ghanaian woman to win a university merit scholarship, the second female doctor in Ghana and the fourth West African woman to train as a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. After Achimota, Savage went back to the colonial medical service and was given a better concession, in charge of the infant welfare clinics, associated with Korle Bu Hospital in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

. Concurrently, she was appointed the assistant medical officer to the maternity department of the hospital and warden of the nurses' hostel. At Korle-Bu, she supervised the establishment of a training school for nurses,

Korle-Bu Nurses Training College The Nursing and Midwifery Training College, Korle Bu (NMTC Korle-Bu), the premier institution in Ghana for nursing education, is located in Korle Bu in Greater Accra. The establishment of the college in 1945 was supervised by Agnes Yewande Savage ...

, where a ward was named in her honour.

Death

Savage retired relatively early due to "physical and psychological exhaustion" in 1947 and spent the remainder of her life in Scotland raising her niece and nephew. She died of a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

in 1964.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savage, Agnes Yewande 1906 births 1964 deaths 20th-century Nigerian medical doctors 20th-century Nigerian women 20th-century women physicians Alumni of the Royal College of Music Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Black British history Black British people in health professions British expatriates in Ghana Gold Coast (British colony) people Nigerian expatriates in Ghana Nigerian people of Scottish descent Nigerian women medical doctors Nigerian women's history Medical doctors from Edinburgh Agnes Scottish people of Nigerian descent Scottish people of Sierra Leonean descent Sierra Leone Creole people Saro people Scottish people of Yoruba descent University and college founders Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Medical School Yoruba women physicians

Life

Early life and education

Medical career and legacy

Death

See also

References