Raymond Sarif Easmon (15 January 1913''Africa Who's Who'', London: Africa Journal Ltd, 1981, p. 357. – 2 May 1997) was a prominent

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 doctor known for his acclaimed literary work and political agitation.

Background and early life

Raymond Sarif Easmon was born on 15 January 1913 in

Freetown 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 p ...

British Sierra Leone The Colony and Protectorate of Sierra Leone (informally British Sierra Leone) was the British colonial administration in Sierra Leone from 1808 to 1961, part of the British Empire from the abolitionism era until the decolonisation era. The Crow ...

, to the

Easmon family The Easmon family or the ''Easmon Medical Dynasty'' is a Sierra Leone Creole medical dynasty of African-American descent originally based in Freetown, Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone. The Easmon family has ancestral roots in the United State ...

, a prominent Creole medical family of

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

descent. Easmon's father

Albert Whiggs Easmon Albert Whiggs Easmon (1865 – 21 May 1921) was a Sierra Leonean Creole medical doctor and the half-brother of Dr John Farrell Easmon. Easmon was among the first group of Sierra Leoneans to qualify as a medical doctor after getting a degree ...

and uncle,

John Farrell Easmon John Farrell Easmon, MRCS, LM, LKQCP, MD, CMO (30 June 1856 – 9 June 1900), was a prominent Sierra Leonean Sierra Leone Creole people, Creole doctor in the British Gold Coast who served as Chief Medical Officer during the 1890s. Easmon ...

, had qualified as doctors in the 19th century. Easmon's mother, Hannah Maillat (c. 1890–c. 1950), was a seamstress of French and Susu descent and Easmon was a sibling of Manto Noah, née Easmon (born 1911), a well-known Sierra Leonean botanist, also Nannette Sudie Easmon who married, Michael Benjamin Jones, Bertha Yvonne Thompson, who married William Conton and Amy Manto Bondfield Hotobah-During (1932–1995), who married

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 ...

. R. Sarif Easmon was educated at Prince of Wales School, Freetown, and subsequently in England at 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 ...

, where he had a brilliant academic career and won awards in biology and anatomy and qualified as a doctor at the age of 23,Simon Gikandi (ed.)
''Encyclopedia of African Literature''
London: Routledge, 2003, p. 220. and at the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

(Diploma in Tropical Medicine). He arrived back in Sierra Leone in 1937.Adell Patton
''Physicians, Colonial Racism, and Diaspora in West Africa''
p. 190.

Political agitation

Easmon became politically active during the regime of President

Siaka Stevens Siaka Probyn Stevens (24 August 1905 – 29 May 1988) was the leader of Sierra Leone from 1967 to 1985, serving as Prime Minister of Sierra Leone, Prime Minister from 1967 to 1971 and as President from 1971 to 1985. Stevens' leadership was ofte ...

. Easmon criticized the rampant political corruption that occurred during the period and in 1970 was arrested and detained (1970–71) for his opposition to the government.

Writing

Easmon's play ''Dear Parent and Ogre'', first produced by

Wole Soyinka Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

in 1961, won the ''

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'' Magazine prize. His second play, ''The New Patriots'' (1965), was performed in several West African countries. In the words of

Simon Gikandi Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

: "Easmon's plays are semi-comical commentaries on politics and culture in a community undergoing the birth throes of independence and corruption in the institutions of government." Easmon also wrote a novel called ''The Burnt-Out Marriage'' (1967), as well as short stories that were collected in ''The Feud and Other Stories'' (1981).

Personal life

Dr. Easmon married Esther Campbell, the daughter of William Campbell, a teacher, and the granddaughter of Dr. William Frederick Campbell (1858–1926), a

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 ...

physician. The Easmons had five children.

Published works

* ''Dear Parent and Ogre'' (Oxford University Press,

Three Crowns Books Three Crowns Books was an Imprint (trade name), imprint of Oxford University Press devoted to writing from the British colonies in Africa and South Asia. The series was active publishing for both the UK and international market from 1962 until 197 ...

, 1964), play * ''The New Patriots: a play in three acts'' (London, 1965), play * ''The Burnt-Out Marriage'' (1967), novel * ''The Feud and Other Stories'' (1981)

Sources

* C. P. Foray and Magbaily Fyle, ''Historical Dictionary of Sierra Leone'', 2005. * Adell Patton, ''Physicians, Colonial Racism, and Diaspora in West Africa'', University Press of Florida, 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Easmon, Raymond Sarif Sierra Leone Creole people Sierra Leonean writers 1913 births 1997 deaths Raymond Sarif People educated in Freetown, Sierra Leone Sierra Leoneans of French descent Sierra Leonean people of African-American descent Alumni of Durham University College of Medicine