Alex Quaison-Sackey, the first diplomat from a black African nation who served as President of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
Background
Ethnicity:
Quaison-Sackey's parents were Alex Emmanuel Sackey (1902–1972) and Alberta Quaison. He married Elsie Annie Blankson (1927–2003).[4] Together, they had six children, Egya, Nana, Awo, Kweku Bondzie and Nenyi (Nii) and Yaaba.
Mr. Quaison-Sackey remained close to President Nkrumah and was with him on a peace mission in Vietnam in February 1966, when the Nkrumah Government was overthrown by the army.
Mr. Quaison-Sackey died of a pulmonary embolism, said a son, Dr. Egya Quaison-Sackey of Baltimore.
Education
He received his early education in Ghana at Mfantsipim at Cape Coast in the Central Region and Achimota College near Accra.
Born to a family active in politics in the coastal town of Winneba, Mr. Quaison-Sackey was politically active as an undergraduate at Achimota College, near Accra, from which he graduated in 1948, and while earning an honor's degree at Oxford University in 1952.
He then proceeded to the United Kingdom where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the Exeter College, Oxford University, graduating with an honours degree. He also studied international relations and international law at the London School of Economics after being appointed one of Ghana's first Foreign Service Officers.
Career
Alex Quaison-Sackey was a diplomatic troubleshooter for Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first President, from the moment of Ghana's independence in 1957. He was First Secretary at the Ghana High Commission from 1957 to 1959 and served as the country's representative at the United Nations from 1959 to 1965.