photograph at age 30
OBITUARY
EDWARD WILMOT BLYDEN III 1918-2010
Edward Wilmot Blyden III, the only surviving grandson of the great West African savant, Edward Wilmot Blyden (1832-1912) of Liberia peacefully passed away in his sleep at his residence in Freetown Sierra Leone on October 10th. He was 92 years old. Professor Blyden served the country as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the former USSR, Eastern Europe and East Germany from 1971-1974, and the Sierra Leone Mission to the United Nations-1974-1976. From 1976-1980, he served as Adviser to President Siaka Stevens.
He was a charismatic figure in pre-independent Sierra Leone, who stirred the imagination of youth and some of the educated class with his creation of the Sierra Leone Independence Movement: designed to educate and instruct political parties on self-determination and direction in attaining independence from the British Colonial Government. Prominent members of the movement were the West Indian pan-African George Padmore , Kwame Nkrumah, Chief Tamba Songou Mbriwa of Gbense Chiefdom, Kono, with whom he later co-founded the Sierra Leone Independent Progressive Movement which held similar objectives in 1955. In the pre-elections of 1957, the movement did not win which disappointed not only Blyden, but also Nkrumah and Padmore who were struggling to create an integrated West African region to pre-empt the insidious influence of neocolonialism.
Edward Blyden graduated in 1960 and was appointed lecturer of Political Science and Extra Mural Studies at the newly opened University of Nigeria at Nsukka-The first in Nigeria to offer an indigenous curriculum. He became the university's first public orator. He returned to lecture at Fourah Bay College in 1968 with the onset of the Biafra War in Nigeria. He became the University of Sierra Leone's most charismatic public orator.
In 1971, he was invited by Siaka Stevens to represent the country as Ambassador. He was instrumental in negotiating a treaty between the Rumanian Government and Sierra Leone for the construction of the Bumbuna Hydro-electric dam, trade with Hungary and Sierra Leone. At the United Nations Blyden was actively vocal on the Palestinian Question debates of 1975. In 1980, he was invited by the University of Liberia to speak on the 100th anniversary of the of Liberia College. His speech made an impact on the Liberian student population who circulated copies of the speech which they memorized.
Edward Wilmot Blyden III received many distinguished awards including the United Nations Peace Medal for 1977, Doctor of Letter degrees from Lincoln University and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and an award of Recognition from St. Thomas Virgin Island, his grandfather's birthplace. He is survived by his wife Amelia Elizabeth, eight children, and many grand and great-grandchildren in the United States and England.
EDWARD WILMOT BLYDEN III 1918-2010
Edward Wilmot Blyden III, the only surviving grandson of the great West African savant, Edward Wilmot Blyden (1832-1912) of Liberia peacefully passed away in his sleep at his residence in Freetown Sierra Leone on October 10th. He was 92 years old. Professor Blyden served the country as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the former USSR, Eastern Europe and East Germany from 1971-1974, and the Sierra Leone Mission to the United Nations-1974-1976. From 1976-1980, he served as Adviser to President Siaka Stevens.
He was a charismatic figure in pre-independent Sierra Leone, who stirred the imagination of youth and some of the educated class with his creation of the Sierra Leone Independence Movement: designed to educate and instruct political parties on self-determination and direction in attaining independence from the British Colonial Government. Prominent members of the movement were the West Indian pan-African George Padmore , Kwame Nkrumah, Chief Tamba Songou Mbriwa of Gbense Chiefdom, Kono, with whom he later co-founded the Sierra Leone Independent Progressive Movement which held similar objectives in 1955. In the pre-elections of 1957, the movement did not win which disappointed not only Blyden, but also Nkrumah and Padmore who were struggling to create an integrated West African region to pre-empt the insidious influence of neocolonialism.
Edward Blyden graduated in 1960 and was appointed lecturer of Political Science and Extra Mural Studies at the newly opened University of Nigeria at Nsukka-The first in Nigeria to offer an indigenous curriculum. He became the university's first public orator. He returned to lecture at Fourah Bay College in 1968 with the onset of the Biafra War in Nigeria. He became the University of Sierra Leone's most charismatic public orator.
In 1971, he was invited by Siaka Stevens to represent the country as Ambassador. He was instrumental in negotiating a treaty between the Rumanian Government and Sierra Leone for the construction of the Bumbuna Hydro-electric dam, trade with Hungary and Sierra Leone. At the United Nations Blyden was actively vocal on the Palestinian Question debates of 1975. In 1980, he was invited by the University of Liberia to speak on the 100th anniversary of the of Liberia College. His speech made an impact on the Liberian student population who circulated copies of the speech which they memorized.
Edward Wilmot Blyden III received many distinguished awards including the United Nations Peace Medal for 1977, Doctor of Letter degrees from Lincoln University and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and an award of Recognition from St. Thomas Virgin Island, his grandfather's birthplace. He is survived by his wife Amelia Elizabeth, eight children, and many grand and great-grandchildren in the United States and England.
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Toyin Falola
Department of History
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station
Austin, TX 78712-0220
USA
512 475 7224
512 475 7222 (fax)
http://www.toyinfalola.com/
www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa
http://groups.google.com/group/yorubaaffairs
http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Department of History
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station
Austin, TX 78712-0220
USA
512 475 7224
512 475 7222 (fax)
http://www.toyinfalola.com/
www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa
http://groups.google.com/group/yorubaaffairs
http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
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