Emmanuel Evans-Anfom

FRCSEd The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located o ...

FICS

FAAS Function as a service (FaaS) is a category of cloud computing services that provides a platform allowing customers to develop, run, and manage application functionalities without the complexity of building and maintaining the infrastructure typical ...

FWACS (7 October 1919 – 7 April 2021) was a

Ghanaian 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 Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

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 ...

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

university administrator Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities. Some ty ...

, and

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

who served as the second

Vice Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor is ...

of the

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is a public University of Ghana that focuses on science and technology. The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is the public university established in the country, as well a ...

from 1967 to 1973.

Early life and education

A member of the Ga-Dangme people of

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, , ...

, Evans-Anfom was born on 7 October 1919 at the Evans family house,

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

, Jamestown Accra. His father, William Quarshie Anfom, was of Nzema and

Shai Shai (also spelt Sai, occasionally Shay, and in Greek, Psais) was the deification of the concept of fate in Egyptian mythology. As a concept, with no particular reason for associating one gender over another, Shai was sometimes considered femal ...

origin -

Shai Hills Shai Hills is a suburb near district capital Dodowa in the Dangme West District of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, north of Accra. Shai is a plain by topography but has outcrops of hills. The hills in the Shai area is base to several ston ...

area in Dodowa and Doryumu. His mother, Mary Emma Evans, was the daughter of William Timothy Evans, a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

catechist Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...

of the

Basel Mission The Basel Mission was a Christian missionary society based in Switzerland. It was active from 1815 to 2001, when it transferred the operative work to , the successor organization of ''Kooperation Evangelischer Kirchen und Missione'' (KEM), found ...

who taught at Salem School at Osu. The Evans family was a well-known

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 ...

Euro-African Ga family that descended from Welsh traders. In 1925, he enrolled at the Government Junior Boys' School in Jamestown and later, the Government Senior Boys' School at Rowe Road. He attended the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

middle boarding school, the Salem School at Osu where the principal at the time,

Carl Henry Clerk Carl Henry Clerk (4 January 1895 – 28 May 1982) was a Ghanaian agricultural educationist, administrator, journalist, editor and church minister who was elected the fourth Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast, assuming t ...

encouraged him to apply for a

Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mar ...

Scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

for study at

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 ...

instead of going the normal teacher-training route at the Basel Mission-founded

teacher training seminary at Akropong, now known as the

Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong The Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong, is a co-educational teacher-training college in Akropong in the Akwapim district of the Eastern Region of Ghana. It has gone through a series of previous names, including the Presbyterian Trainin ...

. He was elected the School Prefect of Achimota School. In January 1939, he enrolled in the inter-preliminary medical course of Science at Achimota. In that course, he received advanced training in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

and

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

. At Achimota, he won a Gold Coast medical scholarship in 1941 to study medicine at 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 ...

, graduating in 1947. He also studied in a

postgraduate diploma A postgraduate diploma (PgD, PgDip, PGDip, PG Dip., PGD, Dipl. PG, PDE) is a postgraduate qualification awarded after a university degree, which supplements the original degree and awards them with a graduate diploma. Countries that award postg ...

course in tropical medicine ( DTM&H), completing in 1950. He elected a Fellow of the

Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located on ...

in 1963. He captained the Achimota School Hockey XI, Edinburgh University Hockey XI and Combined Scottish Universities Hockey XI.

Medical career

After Edinburgh, Evans-Anform worked for a year at the Dewsbury General Infirmary in Yorkshire, Leeds, as a House Physician and House Surgeon and Casualty Officer. Evans-Anfom worked in various hospitals in the government medical system:

Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) is a public teaching hospital located in the Ablekuma South Metropolitan District in Accra, Ghana. It is the only public tertiary hospital in the southern part of the country. It is a teaching hospital affiliate ...

Dunkwa-On-Offin Dunkwa-On-Offin or simply Dunkwa, is a town and the capital of the Upper Denkyira East Municipal District, a district in the Central Region of south Ghana. Dunkwa-On-Offin has a 2013 settlement population of 33,379 people. Geography Topography ...

Government Hospital,

Tarkwa Tarkwa is a town and is the capital of Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal district, a district in the Western Region southwest of South Ghana. Tarkwa has a 2013 settlement population of 34,941 people. Economy Mining Tarkwa is noted as a centre of gold ...

Government Hospital, the Kumasi Central Hospital,

Tamale A tamale, in Spanish tamal, is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate. Tamale ...

Government Hospital and Effia Nkwanta Hospital in

Sekondi Sekondi-Takoradi is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi – Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city and an indus ...

. During his long medical career, he worked with other medical trailblazers such as Susan Ofori-Atta and

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 ...

, the first and second Ghanaian women physicians respectively. He also did medical outreach in the Congo in the 1960s.

Academic career

A pioneering medical educator himself, he was approached by the first

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

Charles Odamtten Easmon Charles Odamtten Easmon or C. O. Easmon, popularly known as Charlie Easmon, (22 September 1913 – 19 May 1994) was a medical doctor and academic who became the first Ghanaian to formally qualify as a surgeon specialist and the first Dean of t ...

in 1963 for a teaching professorship position in Anatomy at the then newly established

University of Ghana Medical School The University of Ghana Medical School also UGMS is the medical school of Ghana's first public research institution, the University of Ghana. It is currently located at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra. The medical school was first plann ...

, an offer he eventually accepted. Evans-Anfom acted as the Chief Medical Administrator at the medical school. In 1958, Evans-Anfom co-founded the

Ghana Medical Association The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) represents physicians, surgeons and dentists working throughout Ghana. It was established in 1958 and is divided into ten divisions representing each region of Ghana as at the end of 2018. History The earliest ...

together with Drs.

Silas Dodu Silas Rofino Amu Dodu, (11 December 1924 – 2007) was a Ghanaian physician and academic. He was a professor of medicine, the second Dean at the University of Ghana Medical School and a pioneer cardiologist in Ghana. He and others have been desc ...

, Anum Barnor and Schandorf. He later served as president of the association from 1968 to 1970. He served as the President of the

West African College of Surgeons The West African College of Surgeons is a professional organization that promotes education, training, examinations and research in surgery in Africa. The college is the first organization to organize surgical subspecialty training in the region. ...

from 1969 to 1971. He was also elected the Chairman of the Medical and Dental Council in 1979. He was a founding Fellow of the

African Academy of Sciences The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) is a non-aligned, non-political, not-for-profit, pan-African learned society formed in 1985. The AAS elects fellows ( FAAS) and affiliates. The AAS also awards the Obasanjo Prize for Scientific Discovery and ...

in 1986. He was also elected a Fellow of the

International College of Surgeons The International College of Surgeons (ICS) is a global organization dedicated to promoting excellence of surgeons and surgical specialists worldwide. It was founded in 1935 by Max Thorek and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. ICS works thou ...

. He was also the Chairman of the

Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine The Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine is an institution for research into herbal medicine in Mampong Akuapem, in the Eastern Region (Ghana), Eastern Region of southern Ghana. It was set up by the government of Ghana in 1976. It p ...

Term as Vice-Chancellor

Evans-Anfom served as the second

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...

of the

(KNUST) from 1967 to 1973. At

KNUST , mottoeng = The knot of wisdom is untied only by the wise , established = 1952;

, Anfom first introduced the ceremony commonly known as "Matriculation" into the university entry ceremonies. He chaired a myriad of committees, boards and missions, both locally and on the international scene in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Politics and public service

Evans-Anfom served concurrently as the Commissioner of Education and Culture and Commissioner for Health under the military government of the

Jerry John Rawlings Jerry John Rawlings (22 June 194712 November 2020) was a Ghanaian military officer and politician who led the country for a brief period in 1979, and then from 1981 to 2001. He led a military junta until 1992, and then served two terms as the de ...

-led Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) in the late 1970s. He was a member of the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

in the Hilla Limann government from 1979 to 1981. During the

Provisional National Defence Council The Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) was the name of the Ghanaian government after the People's National Party's elected government was overthrown by Jerry Rawlings, the former head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, in a coup ...

era under Jerry Rawlings, Evans-Anfom was appointed the chairman of the National Council for Higher Education (now National Council for Tertiary Education) and the chairman of the Education Commission. He was president of the

Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) is a learned society for the arts and sciences based in Accra, Ghana. The institution was founded in November 1959 by Kwame Nkrumah with the aim to promote the pursuit, advancement and dissemination ...

(1987–90) and chairman of the

West African Examinations Council The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is an examination board established by law to determine the examinations required in the public interest in the English-speaking West African countries, to conduct the examinations and to award certif ...

(WAEC). During Evans-Anfom's time as Commissioner of Education, Rawlings appointed him the chair of a special commission to review the existing Ghanaian educational system, and the committee introduced reforms beginning in 1987. Changes under the Evans-Anfom Committee included establishing a nine-year basic education consisting of primary school (six years) and junior secondary school (three years), followed by a newly established senior secondary school education (three years); requiring successful passage of examinations for the end of both secondary school sequences; and changing the emphasis of education from strictly academic to also include vocational, technical and practical training. Other changes implemented by the committee included grouping secondary school curricular programs into five categories: Agriculture, General Arts and Science, Business, Technical, and Vocational.

Personal life

Evans-Anfom had four children with his first wife Leonora Francetta Evans, a

West Indian American Caribbean Americans or West Indian Americans are Americans who trace their ancestry to the Caribbean. Caribbean Americans are a multi-ethnic and multi-racial group that trace their ancestry further in time mostly to Africa, as well as Asia, the ...

of Bahamian descent who he wedded on 13 December 1952 in Accra. Leonora Evans died in 1980 in Edinburgh. In 1984, he married Elise Henkel. He was a founding member and president of the Gold Coast and Ghana Hockey Associations in 1950 and 1957 respectively. He also captained the Gold Coast and Ghana National Hockey Teams. He served as a

Presbyter Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros,'' which means elder or senior, although many in the Christian antiquity would understand ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning as ...

and Senior Presbyter of the

Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Osu The Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, formerly known as the Basel Mission Church, Christiansborg, is a historic Protestant church located in the suburb of Osu in Accra, Ghana. The church was founded by the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society in 18 ...

, where he was a congregant. He served as Chairman, Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission and Culture (1986-2002) and President of Ghana Boys Brigade.

Death and funeral

Evans-Anfom died on 7 April 2021 in Accra, aged 101 years. He was a given a ceremonial funeral by the

Government of Ghana The Government of Ghana was created as a parliamentary democracy, followed by alternating military and civilian governments in Ghana. In January 1993, military government gave way to the Fourth Republic after presidential and parliamentary electi ...

in recognition of his contributions to society.

Awards and honours

In 1996, he was adjudged the "Alumnus of the Year" by his alma mater, the

for "his major contribution to the development of medicine in the Congo and to medical education in Ghana". *1934: Listed on the Honour Board of the

Salem School, Osu The Salem School, Osu, or the Osu Presbyterian Boys’ Boarding School or simply, Osu Salem, formerly known as the Basel Mission Middle School'','' is an all boys’ residential middle or junior secondary school located in the suburb of Osu i ...

*1968: Elected president of the Ghana Medical Association *1971: Elected fellow of the

*1974: Honorary degree of Doctor of Science (Hon. D.Sc.),

University of Salford , caption = Coat of ArmsUniversity of Salford , mottoeng = "Let us seek higher things" , established = 1850 - Pendleton Mechanics Institute 1896 – Royal Technical Institute, Salford 1967 – gained ...

*1996: Honorary doctorate degree in literature (honoris causa) Hon. D.Litt. by the Akrofi Christaller Institute, Akropong Akuapem *1983–1998: Chairman of the Inter-Church and Ecumenical Relations Committee of Ghana *2003: Awarded honorary Doctor of Science degree (D.Sc.) by the

KNUST , mottoeng = The knot of wisdom is untied only by the wise , established = 1952;

*2006: Decorated with the

Order of the Star of Ghana The Order of the Star of Ghana is the highest award given by the Government of Ghana to any individual who had helped the cause of the country in one way or the other. Recipients of this award are decorated at a state function, chaired by the Pr ...

Selected works

*''To the Thirsty Land: Autobiography of a Patriot'', Africa Christian Press, 2003 *"Intestinal Perforation – Some Observations on Aetiology and Management" *"The Evidence for Transformation of Lymphocytes into Liver" *"Political leadership and national development in Ghana" *"Traditional medicine in Ghana : practice, problems and prospects" *"Report of the National Consultative Committee on Education Finance, September 1974-January 1975" *"Development and dissemination of appropriate technologies in rural areas : international workshop held in Kumasi, July 1972"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans-Anfom, Emmanuel 1919 births 2021 deaths Vice-Chancellors of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Alumni of Achimota School Ga-Adangbe people Ghanaian Presbyterians Ghanaian Protestants Ghanaian scientists Ghanaian tropical physicians People from Accra Alumni of the University of Edinburgh University of Edinburgh Medical School alumni University of Ghana faculty Osu Salem School alumni University of Ghana Medical School faculty Fellows of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology faculty Recipients of the Order of the Star of Ghana Ghanaian centenarians Men centenarians Ghanaian expatriates in the United Kingdom Ghanaian people of Welsh descent Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences Founder Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences