John Donnelly Fage
| John Donnelly Fage | |
|---|---|
| Born |
3 June 1921 Teddington, Middlesex, England |
| Died | 6 August 2002 |
| Occupation | historian |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Cambridge University |
| Notable works | A History of Africa (1978) |
John Donnelly Fage (3 June 1921 – 6 August 2002) was a British historian. He was noted for his work on African history.
Personal life
Fage was born in 1921 in Teddington, Middlesex, England. He attended Cambridge University (Magdalene College) for his undergraduate studies, Master's and Ph.D. (1949, The achievement of self-government in southern Rhodesia, 1898–1923).[1]
Career
After his post-graduate studies, Fage joined the newly founded University of Gold Coast (now University of Ghana) at Accra, which was formed under the Asquith Commission and had a 'scheme of special relationship' with the University of London.[2] He spent a decade here (1949–1959), developing his interest in the history of Western Africa, and particularly the African Slave Trade, on which he was to publish extensively over the coming decade. The University started facing funding problems after 1955,[3] and many of the senior Cambridge staff left.
In 1957, after Ghana gained independence, he was appointed its Deputy Principal. However, in 1959 he returned to Britain to join the School of Oriental and African Studies (1959–1963) and then the University of Birmingham, where he founded the Centre of West African Studies (CWAS).[4] Here he spent two very productive decades (1963–1984), holding several senior administrative posts including Vice-Principal (1981–1984).
Fage's early work includes Introduction to the History of West Africa (Cambridge University Press 1955, three editions), which was rewritten as A History of West Africa: An introductory survey (Cambridge U.P. 1969). His An Atlas of African History (London: Edward Arnold 1958) is a widely known reference (2nd ed. 1978). The ambitious 600-page A History of Africa (London: Hutchinson 1978), covers the entire continent from the Neolithic to the late twentieth century, was widely referenced (3d ed. Routledge 1995).
In a long collaboration with Roland Oliver (who was his contemporary at Cambridge and visited him in Ghana), he founded the Journal of African History, and also edited the authoritative eight-volume Cambridge history of Africa, (1975 to 1986). Their Short History of Africa (Penguin 1962) ran to six editions (1988), and has been translated into twelve languages.[4] Fage died, aged 81, at Machynlleth, Wales.
Other works
- 1969. "Slavery and the slave trade in the context of African history," Journal of African History 10:393-404.
- 1975. "The effect of the slave trade on African Population," in R.J.A.R. Rathbone and R.P. Moss, The Population Factor in African Studies, pp. 15–23.
- John D. Fage, A History of Africa (London: Hutchinson 1978)
- (with Maureen Verity) An Atlas of African History. 2nd ed. London: E. Arnold, 1978.
- Ghana: A Historical Interpretation, University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, Wisconsin 1979.
- A Guide to Original Sources for Precolonial Western Africa Published in European Languages, May 1987.
- J. Desmond Clark, J. D. Fage, Roland Oliver, and Richard Gray, The Cambridge History of Africa (8 vols.), Nov 1986.
- A History of West Africa: An Introductory Survey (1969)
References
- ↑ "John D. Fage". School of Oriental and African Studies. Mentions the British Library Who's Who as a source for biography.
- ↑ G. F. Daniel, Registrar, University of Ghana (December 1996). "The universities in Ghana". Commonwealth Universities Year Book 1997–98; Vol.1; pp. 649–656. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
- ↑ John Fage. "David Balme at the University College of the Gold Coast". Retrieved 2007-08-13.
- 1 2 P.F. de Moraes Farias. "John Donnelly Fage, 1921–2002" (PDF).