Encyclopaedia Africana

Heroes and Heroines

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Isa (18?-1891) was the chief of Kaliere, a province of the Solimana state in the extreme northeast of Sierra Leone. He occupied an uncomfortable position...

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Madam Humonya (ruled 1908-1918) was a despotic and unscrupulous paramount chief of the Nongowa chiefdom in the Kenema district, who held her position through the...

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Charles Heddle (1812-187?) was an outstanding businessman who pioneered the export trade in peanuts (groundnuts) from Sierra Leone, and became in time the most prosperous...

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Barend Barends (circa 1770-1839) was a Griqua bandit leader who, with his brother Nicholaas, led the Barends clan, one of the two component clans of...

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Kontorfilli Haidara (1890?-February 16, 1931) was a Soso Muslim (a Mande speaking group spreading across northwest Sierra Leone and Guinea) who had a short and...

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The Waterboers were a leading Griqua (Khoikhoi or “Hottentot”) family of the 19th century who flourished near the northern border of Cape Colony. The principal...

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Gombu Smart or Koko (18th-early 19th centuries) was an ex-slave who became a powerful chief, ruling at Rokon near the Rokel (Sierra Leone River in...

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Gbanya Longo (18?-1878) was the last great ruler of the Kpaa-Mende (the western branch of the Mende, in south central Sierra Leone) in the pre-colonial...

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Gbanka (?-May 1898) was Fula Mansa of Yoni Temne, a chiefdom about 112 km (70 mi) due east of Freetown. He opposed the British in...

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Fomgboe (who lived in the mid and later 19th century), a Loko leader, was the ruler of Tembu, a town in Lower Loko country, to...

Editor’s Note

This website features a collection of articles largely from previously published volumes of the Encyclopaedia Africana, specifically the Encyclopaedia Africana Dictionary of African Biography, which highlights notable individuals from various regions of Africa. Please note that in these volumes, some names of people, towns, and countries were spelled differently than they are today. We have retained these historical spellings to preserve the integrity of the original publications. In some instances, the current spellings are also provided for easy reference.
Please report errors to: info@encyclopaediaafricana.com / research@encyclopaediaafricana.com

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