President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has described the late renowned Ghanaian poet and author, Ama Ata Aidoo as an outstanding writer.
The President remarked that the late Ama Ata Aidoo made tremendous contributions to the development of Ghana and the continent.
He extended his condolences to the bereaved family.
“I heard of the news of the death of Ama Ata Aidoo with sadness and sorrow. I extend my deepest sympathies and condolences to her children and family on their great loss. Through her work, she made a tremendous contribution to the development of our country and continent, and expressed so many of our feelings about our fate as Ghanaians and, indeed, as Africans.
“We will miss her; the continent and the world will miss her. She had a reach that was beyond Ghana. May her soul rest in perfect peace until the Last Day of the Resurrection when we shall all meet again. Amen,” the President eulogized on his Twitter page.
Prof. Ata Aidoo has published award-winning novels, plays, short stories, children’s books, and poetry, and influenced generations of African women writers.
As a further testament to her influence, the author was the subject of the excellent 2014 documentary film, The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo, directed by Yaba Badoe.
Her accomplishments have been heralded in Essays in Honour of Ama Ata Aidoo at 70: A Reader in African Cultural Studies, edited by Anne V. Adams.
Christina Ama Ata Aidoo was born on 23 March 1942 in Abeadzi Kyiakor, near Saltpond, in the Central Region of Ghana.
She was raised in a Fante royal household, the daughter of Nana Yaw Fama, chief of Abeadzi Kyiakor, and Maame Abasema.
She grew up at a time of resurgent British neocolonialism that was taking place in her homeland.
Aidoo attended Wesley Girls’ Senior High School in Cape Coast, from 1961 to 1964. After high school, she enrolled at the University of Ghana, Legon, where she obtained the degree of Bachelor of Arts in English and also wrote her first play, The Dilemma of a Ghost, in 1964.
The play was published by Longman the following year, making Aidoo the first published African woman dramatist.