Albert Whiggs Easmon
BornAlbert Whiggs Easmon
(1855-06-30)30 June 1855
Freetown, Sierra Leone
Died21 May 1921(1921-05-21) (aged 65)
Freetown, Sierra Leone
OccupationChief Medical Officer
LanguageEnglish
NationalityBritish Subject,
EducationWesleyan Boy's High School, Edinburgh University

Albert Whiggs Easmon (1865 – 21 May 1921) was a Sierra Leonean Creole medical doctor and the half-brother of Dr John Farrell Easmon. Easmon was among the first group of Sierra Leoneans to qualify as a medical doctor after getting a degree from Edinburgh University.[1] He became the leading gynaecologist in Freetown, Sierra Leone and had an extensive private practice.[2]

Background and early life

Albert Whiggs Easmon was born to Walter Richard Easmon (1824-1883) and Mah Serah, a Susu from modern-day Guinea. Albert Easmon's father belonged to a prominent Nova Scotian Settler Easmon family of Little East Street, Freetown.[1] Albert Whiggs Easmon was the younger half brother of Dr. John Farrell Easmon, who was promoted to the position of Chief Medical Officer of the Gold Coast.[1]

Education

Albert Whiggs Easmon enrolled in Edinburgh University to study medicine; he qualified in 1895, graduating with First Class Honours.[1]

Influenza epidemic

He was reportedly the only physician who did not contract influenza during the 1918-19 influenza epidemic in Freetown. According to his son Raymond S. Easmon: "Father had literally to doctor the whole city."[2]

Paralysis and death

Soon after the epidemic, Easmon had a stroke that paralysed the right side of his body, leaving him bedridden for two years until his death on 26 May 1923, at the age of 56.[2]

Family

Albert Whiggs Easmon had at least two children; Dr Raymond Sarif Easmon and Maserae Easmon.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Gates, Professor Henry Louis Jr.; Akyeampong, Professor Emmanuel; Niven, Mr Steven J. (2 February 2012). Dictionary of African Biography. OUP USA. ISBN 9780195382075.
  2. 1 2 3 Adell Patton, Jr, Physicians, Colonial Racism, and Diaspora in West Africa, University Press of Florida, 1996, p. 176.
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