Ernest Eggay Kwesi Kurankyi-Taylor (1922 in Cape Coast, Ghana - 1959 in Manchester) was a prominent Ghanaian judge and activist.
Ernest Eggay Kwesi Kurankyi-Taylor | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Kumasi South | |
| In office 1956–1959 | |
| Monarch | Queen Elizabeth |
| Governor General | Charles Arden-Clarke |
| Prime Minister | Kwame Nkrumah |
| Preceded by | Edward Asafu-Adjaye |
| Constituency | Kumasi South |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1922 Cape Coast |
| Died | 1959 Manchester |
| Political party | Convention People's Party |
| Other political affiliations | United Party |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Judge |
| Known for | Pan-Africanism |
Life edit
E. E. K. Kurankyi-Taylor was the son of James Eggay Taylor, a Cape Coast merchant who was an old boy of Mfantsipim School and an active member of the Aborigines' Rights Protection Society and the National Congress of British West Africa.[1] Kurankyi-Taylor was educated at Mfantsipim, Fourah Bay College, University of Manchester and Cambridge University, where he earned a Ph.D.[2]
During his time in the United Kingdom, he was active in the Pan-African movement, and was one of the delegates to the 1945 Manchester Pan-African Congress.[3] He represented the Negro Welfare Centre in Liverpool, together with his brother Jimmy Taylor, who helped organize the 1945 Manchester Pan African Congress,[4] and was also a member of the West African Students Union (WASU).
Upon Kurankyi-Taylor's return to Ghana, he taught at Mfantsipim and University College of Ghana. He was originally a member of Kwame Nkrumah’s Convention People’s Party (CPP) during the fight for independence from Britain. Kurankyi-Taylor later was expelled from CPP due to differences with Nkrumah and joined the National Liberation Movement (later United Party) led by Dr. Kofi Busia and Dr. J.B. Danquah.[5] Kurankyi-Taylor was elected to Parliament from Ashanti (Kumasi South) in the 1956 Elections with the highest vote in the whole elections.[6]
When he died unexpectedly in Manchester at the age of 37, Dr. J. B. Danquah paid him tribute: "Kurankyi-Taylor was a persuasive, eloquent and trenchant advocate who devoted himself not only to the cause of his party but also to the nation as a whole".[7]
His wife, Dorothy Kurankyi-Taylor (née Dorothy Davies) published a selection of poems Reflected Thoughts, in 1959. It is not known whether Kurankyi-Taylor had a significant role in these works. The two met during his studies in Manchester.
Personal life edit
Kurankyi-Taylor was the uncle of Kofi Dsane-Selby.[8]
References edit
- ^ Adu Boahen, 1996. Mfantsipim and making of Ghana: A Centenary History 1876-1976, Sankofa Educational Publishers, Accra, Ghana. Page 25.
- ^ Ashanti Indigenous Legal Institutions and Present Role, Ph.D thesis, University of Cambridge, 1951.
- ^ Adi, Hakim and Marika Sherwood 1995. The 1945 Manchester Pan African Congress Revisited. New Beacon Press: London. Page 119
- ^ Ibid., page 16.
- ^ Austin, Dennis 1970. Politics in Ghana 1946-1960. Oxford University Press: London. Pages 168, 170, 268.
- ^ Ibid., page 351.
- ^ Daily Graphic, Ghana, January 29, 1959, Page 2. Available from the National Archives, Ghana
- ^ Essamuah, Colin; Epistle, Abura (8 September 2017). "In memory of the perfect gentleman — Dr Kofi Dsane-Selby, 1931-2017". Graphic Online. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
Edited: Matthew Gardner (Grandson)