Personality Rankings

Remembering Charity Zormelo Fiawoo – The First Woman Graduate of the Gold Coast

1st July 2025

Born in Keta in 1904, Mrs. Charity Zormelo Fiawoo made history as the first woman to graduate in the Gold Coast and the first woman in English-speaking West Africa to earn a BSc degree. Her legacy in education and theatre lives on.

A Trailblazer for Women in Education

Mrs. Charity Akoshiwo Zormelo Fiawoo was born in 1904 in Keta, Volta Region of present-day Ghana. She etched her name in history by becoming the first woman to graduate on the Gold Coast, and notably, the first woman in all of English-speaking West Africa to earn a Bachelor of Science degree.

She was the daughter of Godfred Nyavor Zormelo, a businessman and former employee of the North German Mission, and Patience Abolitsi Dzokotoe. Her younger half-sister was Victoria Zormelo-Gorleku.

A Journey from Keta to America

Charity began her education at the African Methodist Episcopal Zion School, completing in 1919. She briefly taught before leaving for the United States, where she continued her education at Borden Town High School and then pursued Home Economics at the Hampton Institute.

Her transatlantic academic journey laid the foundation for her groundbreaking status as a woman of science, resilience, and global influence.

Teacher, Playwright, Change-Maker

Upon returning to the Gold Coast, she taught at Mmofraturo Girls Boarding School in Kumasi and later at the African University College in Anloga. She was deeply influential, mentoring many young women and promoting girls’ education in a time when female scholars were rare.

She traveled extensively across the Gold Coast and Togoland with her husband, Ferdinand Kwasi Fiawoo, promoting cultural education through theatre. Together, they used a stage play titled “Toko Atolia” as a medium for education, moral reform, and nationalism—an innovative form of advocacy in colonial times.

A Legacy That Endures

Mrs. Fiawoo’s contributions stretched beyond the classroom. She was a role model, educator, and cultural ambassador, championing the place of women in education, leadership, and societal development long before women’s empowerment became mainstream.