Editing Edward Akufo-Addo

{{short description|President of Ghana from 1970 to 1972}}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Edward Akufo-Addo
| honorific-suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=GHA|JSC|size=100%}}
| image               = Akufo_Addo.jpg
| caption             = Edward Akufo-Addo
| order               = 4th
| office              = President of Ghana
| primeminister       = [[Kofi Abrefa Busia]]
| term_start          = 31 August 1970
| term_end            = 13 January 1972
| predecessor         = [[Nii Amaa Ollennu]] (acting)
| successor           = [[Ignatius Kutu Acheampong]] (as Head of State)
| order2              = 3rd
| office2             = Chief Justice of Ghana
| term_start2         = 1966
| term_end2           = 1970
| predecessor2        = [[J. Sarkodee-Addo]]
| successor2          = [[Edmund Alexander Lanquaye Bannerman]]
| president3          = [[Kwame Nkrumah]]
| predecessor3        = 
| successor3          = 
| order3              = &nbsp;Justice of the [[Supreme Court of Ghana]]
| term_start3         = 1962
| term_end3           = 1964
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1906|6|26|df=y}}
| birth_place         = Dodowa, [[Gold Coast (British colony)|Gold Coast]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1979|7|17|1906|6|26|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Accra]], [[Ghana]]
| constituency        = 
| party               = [[Independent politician|Independent]]<br />[[United Gold Coast Convention]]
| spouse              = [[Adeline Sylvia Eugeina Ama Yeboakua Akufo-Addo|Adeline Y. Akufo-Addo]] (née Nana Yeboakua Ofori-Atta) (d. 2004)
| children            = 4, including [[Nana Akufo-Addo]]
| profession          = {{hlist|Judge|Lawyer}}
| blank1              = Religion
| data1               = [[Presbyterian]]
| nationality         = Ghanaian
| education           = [[Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong|Presbyterian Training College, Akropong]]<br />[[Achimota School|Achimota College]]<br />[[St Peter's College, Oxford]]<br />[[Middle Temple]]
| signature           = 
| footnotes           = *Ceremonial President with executive powers vested in Prime Minister
}}
'''Edward Akufo-Addo''' {{post-nominals|country=GHA|JSC}} (26 June 1906 – 17 July 1979)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Goldsworthy|first=David|date=1973|title=Ghana's Second Republic: A Post-Mortem|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/720579|journal=African Affairs|volume=72|issue=286|pages=8–25|doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a096326|jstor=720579|issn=0001-9909|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="Ghana History Moments">{{Cite web|title=August 28, 1970: Edward Akuffo-Addo is named President of the 2nd Republic|url=https://www.eaumf.org/ejm-blog/2017/8/28/august-28-1970-edward-akuffo-addo-is-named-president-of-the-2nd-republic|date=28 August 2017|access-date=13 August 2020|work=Ghana History Moments|publisher=Edward A. Ulzen Memorial Foundation|language=en-US}}</ref> was a Ghanaian politician and lawyer. He was a member of the "[[The Big Six (Ghana)|Big Six]]" leaders of the [[United Gold Coast Convention|United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC)]] and one of the founding fathers of Ghana who engaged in the fight for Ghana's independence.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ghana pays tribute to founders' - Graphic Online|url=https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/politics/ghana-pays-tribute-to-founders.html|first=Timothy|last= Ngnenbe|date=4 August 2020|access-date=5 August 2020|website=www.graphic.com.gh|language=en-gb}}</ref> He became the [[Chief Justice of Ghana|Chief Justice]] (1966–70), and later [[ceremonial presidency|ceremonial]] [[Heads of state of Ghana|President]] (1970–72), of the Republic of Ghana.<ref name=GhanaWeb>{{cite web|title=Edward Akufo-Addo|url=http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/people/pop-up.php?ID=123|publisher=Ghana Web|access-date=30 January 2014}}</ref> He is the father of the former (executive) President of Ghana, [[Nana Addo Akufo-Addo]].<ref>{{ cite web | url= 
https://www.modernghana.com/amp/news/1021213/big-six-enduring-lessons-from-the-founding-father.html | title= Big Six Enduring Lessons From The Founding Fathers Of Ghana | date= 6 August 2020 | access-date=27 August 2021 }}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Akufo-Addo was born on 26 June 1906 at [[Dodowa]] in the [[Greater Accra Region]] to William Martin Addo-Danquah and Theodora Amuafi. Both of his parents were from the southern Ghanaian town of [[Akropong]].<ref>{{cite book |date=2 February 2012 |title=Dictionary of African Biography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=39JMAgAAQBAJ&q=Edward+Akufo-Addo+born&pg=PA154 |publisher=OUP USA |page=154 |isbn=978-0-195-38207-5 }}</ref> He had his primary education at Presbyterian Primary and Middle Schools at [[Akropong]]. He continued to [[Presbyterian College of Education, Akropong|Presbyterian Training College, Akropong]] and Abetifi Theological Training College. In 1929, he entered [[Achimota School|Achimota College]], where he won a scholarship to [[St Peter's College, Oxford]]. He studied mathematics, Politics and Philosophy and he went on to graduate with honours in philosophy and politics in 1933.

==Pre-political career==
Akufo-Addo was called to the [[Middle Temple]] Bar, [[London]], [[United Kingdom|UK]], in 1940<ref name=OldAchimotan /> and returned to what was then the [[Gold Coast (British colony)|Gold Coast]] to start a private legal practice a year later in [[Accra]].<ref name=GhanaWeb />

==Early political career==
In 1947, he became a founding member of the [[United Gold Coast Convention]] (UGCC) and was one of the "[[The Big Six (Ghana)|Big Six]]" (the others being [[Ebenezer Ako-Adjei]], [[Joseph Boakye Danquah]], [[Kwame Nkrumah]], [[Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey]] and [[William Ofori Atta]]) detained after disturbances in Accra in 1948.<ref name=OldAchimotan /> From 1949 to 1950, he was a member of the Gold Coast Legislative Council and the Coussey Constitutional Commission.<ref name=GhanaWeb />

==Post-independence career==
After independence (1962–64), Akufo-Addo was a [[Supreme Court of Ghana|Supreme Court Judge]], one of three judges who sat on the treason trial involving [[Tawia Adamafio]], [[Ebenezer Ako-Adjei|Ako Adjei]] and three others after the [[Kulungugu bomb attack]] on President [[Kwame Nkrumah]] and for doing so was dismissed with fellow judges for finding some of the accused not guilty.<ref name="Ghana History Moments" />

From 1966 to 1970, Akufo-Addo was appointed [[Chief Justice]] by the [[National Liberation Council]] (NLC) regime, as well as Chairman of the Constitutional Commission (which drafted the 1969 Second Republican Constitution).<ref name=OldAchimotan>[http://www.oldachimotan.net/news/detail/40 "Akora Justice Edward Akufo-Addo"], Old Achimotan Association.</ref> He was also head of the NLC Political Commission during this same time period.<ref name=GhanaWeb />

From 31 August 1970 until his deposition by coup d'état on 13 January 1972, Akufo-Addo was [[President of Ghana]] in the Second Republic.  Real power rested with the prime minister, Dr [[Kofi Abrefa Busia]]. On 17 July 1979, Akufo-Addo died of natural causes.<ref>[http://web.ghananation.com/leaders/ad.asp?blurb=23 "Edward Akufo-Addo"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131011063759/http://web.ghananation.com/leaders/ad.asp?blurb=23 |date=11 October 2013 }}, ''Ghana Nation''.</ref>

== Personal life ==
[[Adeline Akufo-Addo|Adeline Yeboakwa Akufo-Addo]] was the wife of Edward Akufo-Addo<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mobile.ghanaweb.com/person/Edward-Akufo-Addo-123 |website=mobile.ghanaweb.com
|publisher=GanaWeb 
|title=Ghana Famous People: Edward Akufo-Addo
|access-date=7 September 2024}}</ref> and they had four children.  <!-- {{citation needed|date=January 2014}}-->

==Awards and honors==
*Honorary Doctorate from the [[University of Oxford]] in 1971.

==See also==
*[[The Big Six (Ghana)|The Big Six]]
*[[List of judges of the Supreme Court of Ghana]]
*[[Chief Justice of Ghana]]
*[[Heads of state of Ghana]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://articles.ghananation.com/articles/flagbearers-of-ghana/3012-dr-edward-akufo-addo.html "Dr. Edward Akufo Addo"], ''Ghana Nation'', 15 November 2011.

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{{succession box|title=[[Chief Justice of Ghana]]|before=[[J. Sarkodee-Addo]]|after=[[Edmund Alexander Lanquaye Bannerman|Edmund A.L. Bannerman]]|years=1966–1970}} – 
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{{succession box|title=[[Heads of state of Ghana|President of Ghana]]|before=[[Nii Amaa Ollennu]]|after=[[Ignatius Kutu Acheampong|Gen. I. K. Acheampong]]|years=1970–1972}} 
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{{Heads of State of Ghana}}
{{Chief Justices, Ghana}}
{{The Big Six}}

{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:1979 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Ghanaian judges]]
[[Category:Ghanaian Presbyterians]]
[[Category:Presidents of Ghana]]
[[Category:Alumni of Achimota School]]
[[Category:Alumni of St Peter's College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Members of the Middle Temple]]
[[Category:United Gold Coast Convention politicians]]
[[Category:Politicians from Greater Accra Region]]
[[Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of Ghana]]
[[Category:Ghanaian independence activists]]