Emmanuel Evans-Anfom

Emmanuel Evans-Anfom FGA OSG (born 7 October 1919) is a Ghanaian physician, scholar, university administrator and public servant who served as the second Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology from 1967 to 1973.[2][3][4][5]

Emmanuel Evans-Anfom

FGA OSG
Commissioner for Education
In office
1978–1979
PresidentFred Akuffo
In office
1981–1982
PresidentJerry John Rawlings
Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
In office
1967 – 1973[1]
Preceded byR. P. Baffour
Succeeded byE. Bamfo-Kwakye
Personal details
Born (1919-10-07) 7 October 1919
Accra
Alma mater
Profession
Notable AwardsGold Coast Medical Scholar
Scientific career
FieldsAnatomy
InstitutionsUniversity of Ghana Medical School

Early life and education

A member of the Ga-Dangme people of Accra, Evans-Anfom was born on 7 October 1919 at the Evans family house, High Street, Accra.[6] His father, William Quarshie Anfom, was of Shai and Nzema origin.[6] His mother, Mary Evans, was the daughter of William Timothy Evans, a teacher-catechist of the Basel Mission Middle School or the Salem School at Osu.[6] The Evans family was a well-known Euro-African Ga family on the Gold Coast.[6] In 1925, he enrolled at the Government Boys School in Jamestown.[6] He attended the Presbyterian middle boarding school, the Salem School at Osu [7] where the principal at the time, Carl Henry Clerk encouraged him to apply for a Cadbury Scholarship for study at Achimota School instead of going the normal teacher-training route at the Basel Mission-founded Presbyterian teacher training seminary at Akropong, now known as the Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong.[6][8] He was elected the School Prefect of Achimota School. In January 1939, he enrolled in the inter-preliminary medical course of Science at Achimota.[6] In that course, he received advanced training in physics, chemistry, botany and zoology.[6] At Achimota, he won a Gold Coast medical scholarship in 1941 to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh, graduating in 1947.[9][10][11] He also studied in a postgraduate diploma course in tropical medicine (DTM&H), completing in 1950.[6][12]

Medical career and professorship

Evans-Anfom worked in various hospitals in the government medical system: Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dunkwa-On-Offin Government Hospital, Tarkwa Government Hospital, the Kumasi Central Hospital, Tamale Government Hospital and Effia Nkwanta Hospital in Sekondi.[6] During his long medical career, he worked with other medical trailblazers such as Susan Ofori-Atta and Matilda J. Clerk, the first and second Ghanaian women physicians respectively.[13][14] A pioneering medical educator himself, he was approached by the first Ghanaian surgeon, Charles Odamtten Easmon in 1963 for a teaching professorship position at the then newly established University of Ghana Medical School, an offer he eventually accepted.[6] He also did medical outreach in the Congo in the 1960s.[8] In 1996, he was adjudged the "Alumnus of the Year" by his alma mater, the University of Edinburgh for "his major contribution to the development of medicine in the Congo and to medical education in Ghana." [15] In 1958, Evans-Anfom co-founded the Ghana Medical Association together with Charles Odamtten Easmon, Silas Dodu, Anum Barnor and Dr. Schandorf.

Term as Vice-Chancellor

Dr Anfom served as the second Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) from 1967 to 1973.[2] At KNUST, Anfom first introduced the ceremony commonly known as "Matriculation" into the university entry ceremonies. He has chaired a myriad of committees, boards and missions, both locally and on the international scene in Africa, Europe and North America.[6]

Commissioner of Education

Evans-Anfom served as the Commissioner of Education under the military governments of Fred Akuffo of the Supreme Military Council and later, Jerry John Rawlings led Provisional National Defence Council in the late 1970s and early 1980s.[6] He was a member of the Council of State in the Hilla Limann government from 1979 to 1981.[8] Emmanuel Evans-Anfom was also a Chairman of the National Council for Higher Education (now National Council for Tertiary Education), the Chairman of the Education Commission, President of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (1987–90) and Chairman of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).[8]

Personal life

Evans-Anfom has four children with his first wife Leonora Evans, a West Indian American who died in 1980. In 1984, he married Elise Henkel.[2][6] He became a Founding President of the Gold Coast Hockey Association in 1950.[8] He has served as a Presbyter of the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Osu, where he is a congregant.

Evans-Anfom celebrated his 101st birthday in October 2020.[16]

Awards and honours

Selected works
  • To the Thirsty Land: Autobiography of a Patriot, Africa Christian Press, 2003 [10]
  • Intestinal Perforation – Some Observations on Aetiology and Management [9]
  • The Evidence for Transformation of Lymphocytes into Liver [9]

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-07-04. Retrieved 2017-07-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Former Vice Chancellors". www.knust.edu.gh. Archived from the original on 2011-09-30. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
  3. "Meet Dr. Emmanuel Evans-Anfom, The Oldest Living Medical Practitioner In Ghana". OMGVoice.com. 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  4. "Dr. Emmanuel Evans-Anfom Archives - citifmonline.com". citifmonline.com. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  5. "President Visits Ghana's Oldest Medical Practitioner - Daily Guide Africa". dailyguideafrica.com. 2018-01-04. Archived from the original on 2018-01-08. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  6. Frimpong, Enoch Darfah. "Ghana news: Dr Evans-Anfom: One of Ghana's talented surgeons". Graphic Online. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
  7. "Osu Salem". www.osusalem.org. Archived from the original on 2016-11-05. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
  8. (Mrs.), Margaret Safo (2006-07-29). The Mirror: Issue 2,693 July 29 2006. Graphic Communications Group. Archived from the original on 2017-09-22.
  9. "Dr. E. Evans-Anfom". Archived from the original on 2017-07-04.
  10. "Autobiography of Dr Evans-Anfom launched in Accra". www.ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
  11. "Teknocrats join Dr Evans-Anfom to celebrate 96th birthday". Retrieved 2017-07-18.
  12. Tetty, Charles (1985). "Medical Practitioners of African Descent in Colonial Ghana". The International Journal of African Historical Studies. 18 (1): 139–144. doi:10.2307/217977. JSTOR 217977. PMID 11617203. S2CID 7298703.
  13. Jr, Adell Patton (1996-04-13). Physicians, Colonial Racism, and Diaspora in West Africa (1st ed.). Gainesville: University Press of Florida. ISBN 9780813014326.
  14. Patton, Adell (1996). Physicians, Colonial Racism, and Diaspora in West Africa. University Press of Florida. p. 317. ISBN 9780813014326. physicians colonial racism and diaspora in west africa reviews.
  15. "The University of Edinburgh and Africa". The University of Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 2016-11-25. Retrieved 2017-09-23.
  16. "Dr Emmanuel Evans-Anfom Celebrates life at 101 years". The African Media. 2020-10-08. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  17. "About". theosoban.org. Archived from the original on 2017-12-26. Retrieved 2017-12-25.
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