J.B. Danquah

Joseph Boakye Danquah was born on December 18, 1895, in Bepong, Kwahu. Educated at the University of London and the Middle Temple, he became the first West African to earn a PhD in philosophy from a British university (in 1927). In 1931, he established The West African Times, the first daily newspaper in the Gold Coast.

A scholar of Akan customary law, Danquah's historical research persuaded nationalists that the Gold Coast was historically linked to the medieval Ghana Empire, leading him to champion 'Ghana' as the sovereign name for the territory. In 1947, he co-founded the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC). Later leading the democratic parliamentary opposition, he was detained under the Preventive Detention Act and died in custody at Nsawam Prison on February 4, 1965.