Charity Akoshiwo Tornyewonya Zormelo, subsequently Mrs Fiawoo (1904 – 14 October 1945) was the first woman graduate from 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 ...
, and the first woman from English-speaking West Africa to earn a B. S. degree.
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
, was the daughter of Godfred Nyavor Zormelo, a former North German Mission employee and fishing business proprietor, and Patience Abolitsi Dzokotoe. Victoria Zormelo-Gorleku was her younger half-sister. Completing elementary school education at the local
African Methodist Episcopal
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. The African Methodist Episcopal ...
Zion School in 1919, Zormelo taught for a while before being sponsored by the local minister to travel to the United States in 1926 for further study. In 1930 she graduated from high school in
Bordentown, New Jersey
Bordentown is a city in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 3,924.Home Economics at Hampton Institute. Active in student societies, she graduated in 1934. Though she was recommended to
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 ...
, there were no teaching vacancies there and on returning to the Gold Coast she began teaching at Mmofraturo, a recently founded
Wesleyan
Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...
girls boarding-school at
Kumasi
Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the ...
. A public lecture on education, delivered 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, , ...
in 1935, was welcomed by the ''
African Morning Post
The ''African Morning Post'' () was a daily newspaper in Accra, Gold Coast, published by City Press Ltd. Editorial and Pub. Its editor-in-chief in 1934 was Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, who later also founded several newspapers in Nigeria, including the ''We ...
''.'Enthuastic Audience Hears Miss Zormelo: Erudite African lady expounds theory on education for a New Day to full Hall', ''African Morning Post'', 11 May 1935.
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Ferdinand Kwasi Fiawoo Ferdinand Kwasi Fiawoo (26 December 1891, in Wasuta – 21 July 1969) was a Ghanaian religious minister, playwright and educator, founder of Zion College, the first secondary school in Ghana's Volta Region.
Life
Ferdinand Kwasi Fiawoo was the so ...
. With her husband, other staff and students she toured southern Eweland - in both the Gold Coast and Togoland - with his play ''Toko Atolia''. Intending to return to the United States to continue study after the war, she died aged 41 on 14 October 1945.