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A Danish Jew in West Africa: Wulff Joseph Wulff Biography And Letters (1836-1842)
Wulff’s life history is of considerable interest in itself. In her biographical essay (Part I) Selena Axelrod Winsnes portrays him as a ‘marginal man’: being a Jew in Denmark at the beginning of the 19th century was to some extent an uphill struggle for those who sought public recognition, and Wulff did not escape discrimination in his administrative career at Christiansborg either, although special circumstances allowed him to hold important positions, and yet, only for the short term.
Paradoxically, on his arrival to the Gold Coast Wulff — as a Jew — was placed in a middle position in the racial hierarchy dominating the mind-set of his superiors in Copenhagen — between Africans and Europeans. In many respects he shared the fate of Euro-Africans, straddling two worlds and being ‘sealed off’ from the top echelons of the European establishments on the Coast.
This book comprises two parts. The first is a biographical presentation of Wulff Joseph Wulff , a Danish Jew. It is an essay concerning the last six years of his life, spent on the Gold Coast of West Africa, based on letters he wrote to his family in Denmark. Those letters were published in 1917 as Da Guinea var Dansk [When Guinea was Danish], by Carl Behrens, a member of his family in Denmark. The second part of the book is an edited translation of the letters from Danish into English.
₵65.00 -
Closing the Books: Governor Edward Carstensen on Danish Guinea (1842-50)
Sitting on the terrace of the royal plantation Frederiksgave, his favourite retreat, Governor Edward Carstensen came to see the inevitable: Denmark had to give up her “possessions” in Africa. As fate would have it, he came to be the instrument by which two centuries of Danish involvement on the Gold Coast was terminated, thereby making way for the emergence of the colonial system that developed there.
After the abolition of the slave trade, Denmark had struggled to find ways and means to legitimate her continued stay at the Coast. At an early stage the Danes initiated a number of attempts to establish experimental plantations to cultivate export crops such as cotton, coffee and sugar. But a transition from slave trade to “legitimate” products required stability and peace, and a need for control, which the rather limited Danish presence was not able to maintain.
Closing the Books comprises a compilation of the official reports that the last Danish Governor sent home during his term of office at the Gold Coast. The reports reflect his personal views regarding the economic and political situations there, as well as his ideas on the “civilization of Africa”.
₵75.00 -
African Visionaries
In over forty portraits, African writers present extraordinary people from their continent: portraits of the women and men whom they admire, people who have changed and enriched life in Africa. The portraits include inventor, founders of universities, resistance fighters, musicians, environmental activists or writers. African Visionaries is a multi-faceted book, seen through African eyes, on the most impactful people of Africa.
Some of the writers contributing to the collection are: Helon Habila, Virginia Phiri, Ellen Banda-Aaku, Véronique Tadjo, Tendai Huchu, Solomon Tsehaye, Patrice Nganang and Sami Tchak.
₵130.00African Visionaries
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S.D. Dombo: A Biography of An Iconic Ghanaian Statesman (Hardcover)
One of the ways to know about the history and foundations of a society is to read about how her pioneers lived their lives and chartered courses that have defined various aspects of the nation’s life as well as the motivations that inspired their actions and the philosophies that underpinned their conduct.
Ghana is a nation with a rich history of men and women whose contributions have resulted in her success story as a beacon in the comity of nations.
This book gives account of the life and works of one of the notable founders of the West African country in the centre of the world. It is a story of courage, fortitude and foresight exhibited by a real gem of a leader — Chief Simon Diedong Dombo: a traditional ruler, an educationist, a politician and a revered statesman.
₵100.00