Personality Profile

Sarah Baartman was born in 1780, her names were Saartjie or Sawtche or Ssehura which means diminutive form. Was from the Khoikhoi nomadic ethnic group that lived in the eastern  region of the Cape Colony in present day South Africa. Sarah was 4 ft 7in tall. Sarah’s life was lined with difficulties. Her mother passed away when she was only …

As King Akhenaten’s wife, Nefertiti was the queen of the 18th dynasty of Egypt, and played a significant role in Egyptian worship of the sun god Aton or Aten. Her name means “the beautiful one has come” and Egyptian reliefs and statuary still show her iconic beauty. Although much of the early life of Nefertiti is a myth, it is …

King Ramses II one of the greatest pharaohs who ruled Egypt, also Known as Ramesses II or Sese also called Ramesses The Great, he was the third king of the 19th dynasty (1292-1186 BCE), he was born in 1303 BC to his father the Pharaoh Sethi I and his mother Queen Tuya. He was second-in-command during his father’s military campaigns …

Sunni Ali established the West African Songhai Empire. He was best regarded as a great military leader, nicknamed Ali Ber, or “Ali the Great.” His views toward Islam are highly controversial. Nearly little is known about Ali’s early life (who received the title of sunni, or si, when he became king of Gao) except that he grown up with the …

Ayuba Suleiman Diallo is best remembered for his memoirs as a Muslim, who in colonial America had to suffer the Atlantic slave trade and enslavement. In 1734 Thomas Bluett published his personal history with several Accounts of the Life of Job. Till now, they serve in eighteenth-century America as one of the few primary sources of Atlantic slave trade and …

KaMpande was a commander of Zulu during the Anglo-Zulu War. He is most notable at the Battle of Rorke’s Drift for having commanded the Zulus. Dabulamanzi was a half-brother of Zulu king Cetshwayo kaMpande. Following the Zulus defeat, and Cetshwayo’s arrest, Dabulamanzi was calling for his brother’s return to power. As Cetshwayo was returned in 1883 Dabulamanzi fought on his …

Tenkamenin ‘King of Golden Kingdom of Ghana’ One of Great Models of African Rule (1037-1075 A.D.) Tenkamenin, the King of the People. Tenkamenin ruled from 1062 until 1076 in what is modern-day Ghana-who would have known right? Throughout Tenkamenin’s brief reign Ghana reached great heights. Tenkamenin’s empire prospered economically through his tactful management of the gold trade across the Sahara …

Queen Amina of Zaria, also known as the warrior queen, was the first woman who ruled an African kingdom for over 30 years in the sixteenth century. She was the first Sarauniya (queen) in the area. Amina was born around 1533 in Zazzau, now called Zaria in the northern of Nigeria. She was the daughter of the 22nd ruler and founder of …

Yaa Asantewaa was born in 1840 and passed on in 1921. She was a good farmer and a successful mother. A policymaker, a human rights activist, the Queen and a leader who was very intelligent. Yaa Asantewaa is popular and famous for leading the Ashanti rebellion to defend the Golden Stool against British colonial rule. She advocated women’s liberation and …

Born Nzinga Mbemba, King Alfonso I was the ruler of the Kongolese people in the early sixteenth century. He reigned over the Kongo Empire from 1509 to late 1542 or 1543. Mbemba created a good commercial connection with the Portuguese, and embraced Catholicism as a result of this relationship. Every aspect of the life of the King, from his name, got changed …