5 things you didn’t know about Kwame Nkrumah

Today marks the 110th birthday of foremost Pan-Africanist and first president of Ghana Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

Born to Kofi Ngonloma of the Asona Clan and Elizabeth Nyanibah of the Anona Clan at Nkroful in the Western Region of what was then known as the Gold Coast, Nkrumah led the West African nation to gain its independence from Britain in 1957. This feat made it the first country on the continent to gain its independence.

A staunch advocate for a united African state and the total liberation of the African continent from imperialism and western dependency, Nkrumah was also one of the founding fathers of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), now African Union (AU).

Nkrumah was toppled from power in a coup on February 24, 1966, by the military with western backing while on a state visit to China and North Vietnam.

He is reported to have died of prostate cancer with no family member by his side after months of failing health following the mysterious death of his cook in Conakry, Guinea, where he was exiled.

Though much has been written about Nkrumah – from his private to his public life, certain facts about him that are hardly or not even known, including the details he provided when he was applying to undertake a PhD in Anthropology at the London School of Economics in 1945, make for a very interesting case.

As Ghana, then known as Gold Coast hadn’t yet attained independence, Nkrumah filled his nationality on the form as “British Subject.”

Scroll through to read other interesting details he provided on the form as well as other things you may not have known about him: