Irene Ighodaro (16 May 1916 – 29 November 1995) was a

Sierra Leone Creole The Sierra Leone Creole people ( kri, Krio people) are an ethnic group of Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone Creole people are lineal descendant, descendants of freed African-American, Afro-Caribbean, and Sierra Leone Liberated African, Liberated Af ...

physician and social reformer who was the first

Sierra Leonean 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 ...

woman to qualify as a medical doctor. She was president of the

Young Women's Christian Association The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

of Nigeria. She was also the first President of the Medical Association of Nigerian Women.

Life

Ighodaro was born Irene Elizabeth Beatrice Wellesley-Cole in

Freetown, Sierra Leone Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and po ...

, one of seven children of engineer Wilfred Wellesley-Cole. Her elder brother was physician

Robert Wellesley-Cole Robert Benjamin Ageh Wellesley Cole (7 March 1907 – 31 October 1995), was a Sierra Leonean medical doctor who was the first West African to become a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Background and early life Robert Benj ...

. She attended the Government Model School and graduated from the Annie Walsh Memorial School. She decided to become a physician after nursing her mother through a terminal illness. She received her M.B.B.S. from the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

in England in 1945.
The Black Handbook: The People, History and Politics of Africa and the ...
' She later married Samuel Ighodaro of Benin City with whom she had four children; Tony, Wilfred, Ayo, and Yinka. They moved to Nigeria, where he became a judge on the High Court of Midwestern Nigeria. Ighodaro maintained a private medical practice and was a member of a number of western Nigerian medical advisory committees. She consulted the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

on child and maternal health and authored the book ''Baby's First Year''. She also chaired the University of Benin Teaching Hospital's board of management and was a member of the YWCA World Executive Committee. She was made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in 1958. Ighodaro died on 29 November 1995.

Life

References

Further reading