Religion Christianity Role Politician | Nationality Sierra Leonean Name Lamina Sankoh | |
Full Name Ethelred National Jones Born 28 June 1884Freetown, Sierra Leone ( 1884-06-28 ) Profession Philosopher, Priest, University Professor Died 1964, Freetown, Sierra Leone Education University of Oxford, Fourah Bay College, Wycliffe Hall, Oxford | ||
Lamina Sankoh (28 June 1884 – 1964), born as Etheldred Jones, was a Sierra Leonean pre-independence politician, educator, banker and cleric. Sankoh is known most prominently for helping to found the People's Party in 1948, one of the first political parties in Sierra Leone. It eventually became the Sierra Leone People's Party.
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Early life
Lamina Sankoh was born as Etheldred Natonal Jones at Gloucester in the Mountain District in the city of Freetown on 28 June 1884 to ethnic Creole parents. He attended a village school in Gloucester, The Cathedral School, Albert Academy and C.M.S. Grammar school. He eventually graduated from Fourah Bay College, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree. He then went to study theology and philosophy at Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. From the 1920s he changed his name to Lamina Sankoh.
Professional career
Sankoh returned to Gloucester in 1924 and received a position as priest and was appointed curate of Holy Trinity Church. He preached for progressive thinking within the church, because of which he also left the post in 1927. While a curate, Sankoh also lectured at Fourah Bay. After leaving the church, Sankoh travelled to the U.K. in order to study education at Oxford. A year later, he travelled to the United States where he taught at various historically black colleges, including Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama, Lincoln University in Chester County, Pennsylvania and South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
Back to Britain
In 1930, Sankoh left the U.S. to go back to Britain, where he became actively involved with the West African Students Union, a London-based activist organization campaigning for self-government of their colonies in Africa. He eventually became the editor of the organization's journal, as well as regular contributor.
Back to Sierra Leone
In the 1940s, Sankoh returned to Sierra Leone. He became closely involved in municipal and local affairs, including the restructing of city government in Freetown. He became a city councilor in 1948. He also resumed teaching at Fourah Bay, this time adult education. At one point, Sankoh was the president of the Freetown adult education society. He established a "penny-savings" bank as well as a newspaper called the The African Vanguard. He also established an independent church for Sierra Leoneans that was "relatively free of western influence". Sankoh fought hard for the unification of Sierra Leone into one nation. He founded the "People's forum" and the "People's party" in 1948, which eventually became the party known today as the Sierra Leone People's Party. Sankoh died in 1964. He has a prominent street named after him in downtown Freetown.