Prof Ama Ata Aidoo To Be Given State Burial2 min read

President Akufo-Addo who said this when the family came to inform him about the death and the funeral arrangements for the burial said the state assisted burial would afford the state and the entire nation to mourn her illustrious daughter.

He said he and the late Professor were young contemporaries at the University of Ghana as students and described her as “an outstanding writer, advocate for women’s cause, the cause of Africans and the progressive people around the world”.

The renowned author died on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, at age 83.

Profile of Ama Ata Aidoo

Christina Ama Ata Aidoo was born on 23 March 1940 in Abeadzi Kyiakor, near Saltpond, in the Central Region of Ghana.

She was raised in a Fante royal household, the daughter of Nana Yaw Fama, chief of Abeadzi Kyiakor, and Maame Abasema. She grew up at a time of resurgent British neocolonialism that was taking place in her homeland.

Her grandfather was murdered by neocolonialists, which brought her father’s attention to the importance of educating the children and families of the village on the history and events of the era.

This led him to open up the first school in their village and influenced Aidoo to attend Wesley Girls’ High School, where she first decided she wanted to be a writer.

Aidoo attended Wesley Girls’ Senior High School in Cape Coast, from 1961 to 1964. After high school, she enrolled at the University of Ghana, Legon, where she obtained the degree of Bachelor of Arts in English and also wrote her first play, The Dilemma of a Ghost, in 1964.

The play was published by Longman the following year, making Aidoo the first published African woman dramatist.