Sir Milton Margai

Who is Sir Milton Margai?

Sir Milton Augustus Striery Margai was born on 7 December 1895 in the village of Gbangbatoke in the Moyamba District of southern Sierra Leone, the eldest of eighteen children of a Mende trader whose own father had been a warrior chief. After earning a degree in history from Fourah Bay College in 1921, he traveled to Britain to study medicine at Durham University College of Medicine, graduating in 1926 as the first qualified doctor from Sierra Leone's Protectorate. He spent many years practicing medicine, including work in maternal and child health, before entering politics as founder and inaugural leader of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), which built a coalition uniting the Protectorate chiefdoms with educated urban Sierra Leoneans. He served as the territory's chief minister from 1954 and became the country's first Prime Minister when Sierra Leone gained independence from Britain on 27 April 1961, steering the young nation through its early years with a reputation for moderation, consensus-building, and personal warmth that earned him broad respect across ethnic and regional lines. He remained in office until his death on 28 April 1964, after which he was succeeded as Prime Minister by his brother, Sir Albert Margai. He is remembered as the father of Sierra Leone's independence.

Sources: Wikipedia, "Milton Margai" · Britannica, "Sir Milton Margai" · BlackPast.org, "Milton Augustus Margai (1895-1964)"