Dr. John Albert Musselman Karefa-Smart (17 June 1915 – 26 August 2010) was a Sierra Leonean politician,

medical doctor A physician (American English), medical practitioner (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, mai ...

and

university professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...

. He served as the first

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

under Sierra Leone's first Prime Minister,

Sir Milton Margai Sir Milton Augustus Strieby Margai (7 December 1895 – 28 April 1964) was a Sierra Leonean medical doctor and politician who served as the country's head of government from 1954 until his death in 1964. He was titled chief minister from 1954 ...

. He was an ordained

Elder An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administrative * Elder (administrative title), a position of authority Cultural * North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and ...

of the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelica ...

. A medical doctor by profession, Karefa-Smart was one of the founding fathers of the

Sierra Leone People's Party The Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, along with its main political rival the All People's Congress (APC). It has been the ruling party in Sierra Leone since April 4, 2018. The SLPP d ...

(SLPP) in 1951. He was one of Sir Milton Margai's closest political advisors and a close personal friend. From 1957 to 1964, Karefa-Smart was a

Member of Parliament of Sierra Leone Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

from Tonkolili District. After the death of Prime Minister Milton Margai in 1964, Karefa-Smart challenged

Albert Margai Sir Albert Michael Margai (10 October 1910 – 18 December 1980) was the second prime minister of Sierra Leone and the half-brother of Sir Milton Margai, the country's first Prime Minister. He was also the father of Sierra Leonean politician ...

for the SLPP leadership position, but he was unsuccessful, as Albert won the SLPP leadership and succeeded his brother as Sierra Leone's Prime Minister. Karefa-Smart ultimately left the SLPP and politics overall and moved abroad to continue his professional career. From 1965 to 1970, Karefa-Smart served as Assistant Director-General to the World Health Organization (WHO). In 1970, he made an unsuccessful bid for the Presidency in Sierra Leone. From there, he returned to Geneva, then migrated to the USA to pursue his career in university teaching, research and public speaking. In 1996, Karefa-Smart returned to Sierra Leone's politics as the founder of the newly formed United National People's Party (UNPP). He stood as the UNPP candidate in the 1996 presidential election, but he was defeated in the second round election

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock marke ...

by the SLPP candidate

Ahmad Tejan Kabbah Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah (February 16, 1932 – March 13, 2014) was a Sierra Leonean politician who served twice as the 3rd President of Sierra Leone, from 1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2007. An economist and attorney by profession, K ...

Education

An ethnic Sherbro, Karefa-Smart was educated at the EUB. Primary School, in Moyamba District and the

Albert Academy The Albert Academy (AA) is a secondary school in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The school's motto is ''Esse Quam Vederi'' (Rather to be than to Seem). It is situated at Berry Street in Freetown. Among its alumni are Sierra Leone's first Prime Minister ...

Freetown Freetown is the Capital city, 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, educ ...

. He received his BA from

Fourah Bay College Fourah Bay College is a public university in the neighbourhood of Mount Aureol in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Founded on 18 February 1827, it is the first western-style university built in Sub-Saharan Africa and, furthermore, the first university-l ...

in Freetown in 1936. Four years later in 1940, he received his BS from

Otterbein College Otterbein University is a private university in Westerville, Ohio. It offers 74 majors and 44 minors as well as eight graduate programs. The university was founded in 1847 by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ and named for United Bre ...

in Westerville, Ohio, United States in 1940. From Otterbein, he went to

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Univer ...

in Montreal, where he received his MD and CM in 1944 and Diploma in Tropical Medicine in 1945. Finally, in 1948, he received his MPH from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Academia

Karefa-Smart was also a fellow or professor at many colleges and universities across the world, including Bunumbu Union Teachers Training College in Sierra Leone (1936–38),

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 19 ...

in Nigeria (1949–52), and several American universities such as

Xavier University of Louisiana Xavier University of Louisiana (also known as XULA) is a private, historically black, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic HBCU and, upon the canonization of Katharine Drexel in 2000, became the first Cathol ...

(1953),

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

(1964–65),

(1971–81),

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...

(1972–77),

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial ...

(1974), and

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

(1980–83).

Political career

Karefa-Smart's political career began with his election to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

in 1957. From 1957 to 1964, Karefa-Smart was a member of parliament for Tonkolili District. He also served as Minister of Lands, Mines, & Labor; Defense; and as

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

(1961–1964). During that time period, he also served occasionally as acting

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

. From 1965 until 1970, he was Assistant Director-General of 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 o ...

in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1996, he returned to Sierra Leonean politics as a member of parliament and presidential candidate. Karefa-Smart lost the 1996 and 2002 presidential elections to

Status as leader of the UNPP

It was initially reported on 12 June 2006 that Karefa-Smart had been replaced as leader of the UNPP at a party convention; however, Karefa-Smart subsequently refuted this claim and called the convention null and void.

Death

Karefa-Smart was living in the US state of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

when he was given a month to live and admitted to a

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...

. In late July 2010, the Sierra Leonean government flew him back to Freetown, where he died on 26 August 2010.Dr. John Karefa-Smart has passed away
Cocorioko, 27 August 2010

References

External links

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060427041809/http://www.sierra-leone.org/heroes8.html "Sierra Leonean Heroes Fifty Great Men and Women Who Helped to Build Our Nation"
AllAfrica.com article on Karefa-Smart alleged retirement

"Personal Memories of WHO 1955-1983"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karefa-Smart, John 1915 births 2010 deaths Foreign Ministers of Sierra Leone Members of the Parliament of Sierra Leone United National People's Party politicians Sierra Leonean writers Sierra Leonean academics Harvard University faculty Boston University faculty Harvard School of Public Health alumni McGill University Faculty of Medicine alumni Fourah Bay College alumni Otterbein University alumni Sherbro people Sierra Leonean United Methodist clergy People from Moyamba District University of Ibadan faculty Sierra Leonean physicians