Born September 21, 1909
Nkroful, Ghana (formerly Gold Coast)
Died April 27, 1972
Bucharest, Romania

Independence leader and first president of Ghana

Kwame Nkrumah led his nation, Ghana, to independence from Great Britain in 1957. Ghana was the first African nation to break free from colonialism (the policy by which one nation exerts control over another nation or territory) and served as an inspiration to the rest of the continent. Nkrumah also championed the unification of West Africa into a United States of Africa. He served as prime minister of Ghana (formerly called the Gold Coast), during a period of limited self-rule, from 1952 to 1957. Following Ghana’s independence in 1957, Nkrumah served as the new republic’s first prime minister until his overthrow in a military coup in 1966. Nkrumah was the first internationally recognized black African statesman and continues to serve as a symbol of African self-sufficiency and unity.

Raised in large family