Gershon Beresford Onesimus Collier
Sierra Leone's first permanent representative to the Headquarters of the United Nations of  Sierra Leone to  United Nations
In office 1961 – February 17, 1967
Succeeded by	Christopher Okoro Cole
Sierra Leonean Ambassador to the United States of  Sierra Leone to  United States
In office November 20, 1963 – February 17, 1967
Preceded by	Richard Edmund Kelfa-Caulker
Succeeded by	Christopher Okoro Cole
Chief Justice of Sierra Leone
In office February 17, 1967 – March 21, 1967
Preceded by	Sir Samuel Bankole Jones[1]
Succeeded by	Banja Tejan-Sie
Personal details
Born	(1927-02-16)February 16, 1927 Freetown
Died	May 25, 1994(1994-05-25) (aged 67) New York City
Spouse	Fashn Dora (m. 1954)
Children	2
Parents	Samuel Adolphus Collier (father) Maria Jeanette Collier (mother)
Education	CMS Grammar School and Fourah Bay College
Alma mater	studied law, M.A., B.C.L., B.L.. LL.M., J.S.D. at New York University University.

Gershon Beresford Onesimus Collier (February 16, 1927 – May 25, 1994) was a Sierra Leone Creole diplomat, chief justice of Sierra Leone and educator. His granddaughter is WNBA player Napheesa Collier.

Career

• He was called to the English Bar at the Middle Temple Inns of Court, London.
• When Albert Margai left the Sierra Leone People's Party in 1958, Gershon Collier was one of the supporters and was a member of that People's National Party's first executive committee.
• In 1961, he became Sierra Leone's first permanent representative to the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York City.
• On October 16, 1963, he was designated concurrently ambassador in Washington, D.C. war he was concurrently accredited from November 20, 1963, until February 17, 1967.
• He got in contact with Gamal Abdel Nasser who became Godparent of his son Gamal.
• In 1967, Albert Margai arranged his nomination as chief justice of Sierra Leone.
• However, Albert Margai lost the election in 1967 and Collier lost his office as chief justice.
• In 1967, Collier migrated to New York City where he took a teaching appointment at New York University.^[2]
• Collier's granddaughter Napheesa Collier won a gold medal in basketball at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

References