Dr. James Africanus Beale Horton

Summary

James Africanus Beale Horton was born in Sierra Leone to Igbo parents who had been liberated from the slave trade by the British. He and James Africanus Davies were selected by the British Army for medical training, qualifying from King's College London and Edinburgh University in 1858/1859 — the first Africans to qualify as British Army doctors. Horton reached the rank of Surgeon-Major and became a Major in the Army. He practised medicine in Ghana and Sierra Leone. He wrote extensively on African self-governance, Pan-Africanism, and the intellectual equality of Africans — works that predate those of W.E.B. Du Bois by decades. He is called "the father of modern African political thought" and is included in the SlideShare's 100 Greatest Nigerians We Never Knew.

Documented contributions

• 01First African to qualify as a British Army doctor (King's College London, 1858) — alongside J.A.B. Davies
• 02Reached the rank of Surgeon-Major in the British Army
• 03Wrote "West African Countries and Peoples" (1868) — pioneering argument for African self-governance
• 04Called "the father of modern African political thought" — decades before W.E.B. Du Bois
• 05Promoted Pan-Africanism and the intellectual equality of Africans in the Victorian era
• 06His Igbo parents were liberated slaves — his achievement symbolised African resilience