Preceded by Kojo Botsio President Kwame Nkrumah Role Diplomat | Preceded by Daniel Chapman Name Alex Quaison-Sackey President Kwame Nkrumah Nationality Ghanaian Succeeded by Amintore Fanfani | |
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Born August 9, 1924
Winneba ( 1924-08-09 ) Died December 21, 1992, Accra, Ghana Spouse Elsie Annie Blankson (m. 1927) Education London School of Economics and Political Science | ||
Preceded by Carlos Sosa Rodriguez Political party Convention People's Party | ||
Alex quaison sackey elected united nations president 1964 newsreel
Dr. Alex Quaison-Sackey (9 August 1924 – 21 December 1992) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served during the first and third republics. He was the first black African to serve as president of the United Nations General Assembly.
Contents
- Alex quaison sackey elected united nations president 1964 newsreel
- Early life and education
- Diplomatic Service
- Politics
- Death
- Family
- Publications
- References
Early life and education
Quaison-Sackey was born at Winneba in the Central Region of Ghana. He received his early education in Ghana at Mfantsipim at Cape Coast in the Central Region and Achimota College near Accra. He then proceeded to the United Kingdom, where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Exeter College, Oxford University, graduating with an honours degree. He also studied international relations and international law at the London School of Economics after being appointed one of Ghana's first Foreign Service officers.
Diplomatic Service
He served as Ghana's second ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations from 30 June 1959 to 1965. He served as President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1964 to 1965, becoming the first black African to hold that position. During that time, Quaison-Sackey was also Ghana's ambassador to Cuba from 1961 to 1965 and ambassador to Mexico from 1962 to 1964. In 1965, he became foreign minister of Ghana, but served in that position for only a few months, as he was dismissed when President Nkrumah was overthrown in February 1966. He was again appointed as Ambassador to the United States in 1978 by the Supreme Military Council led by Lt. Gen. Fred Akuffo
Politics
Quaison-Sackey was appointed as Minister for Foreign Affairs in Kwame Nkrumah's Convention People's Party government. He was on a trip to Vietnam with Nkrumah when the government was overthrown by a military coup d'état leading to the formation of the National Liberation Council on 24 February 1966 led by Lt. General Joseph Arthur Ankrah.
Death
Quaison-Sackey died at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra following a pulmonary embolism on 21 December 1992.
Family
Quaison-Sackey's parents were Alex Emmanuel Sackey (1902–1972) and Alberta Quaison. He married Elsie Annie Blankson (1927–2003). Together, they had six children, Egya, Nana, Awo, Kweku Bondzie and Nenyi (Nii) and Yaaba. Grandchildren, Kwesi Awenate, Kodwo, Nana, Egya and Selasie.
Publications
Quaison-Sackey later wrote about his experiences of diplomatic issues in Ghana's early days in a book called Africa Unbound: Reflections of an African Statesman, which was published by Praeger in May 1963. In it he describes his concept of "Negritude" - "Acceptance and affirmation of the quality of blackness. It is a psychological gathering together of all black peoples in the spiritual bonds of brotherhood."