Black People who changed the world
Scientists & Doctors
‘Lucy’ (c. 3.2 MYA)
Discovered in 1974, the 3.2 million-year-old skeleton of an adult female hominid in Ethiopia, christened ‘Lucy’, remains the earliest example of a member of the humans genus to be found, and is the cornerstone of modern palaeoanthropology. Several similar discoveries, including a 2.3 million-year-old jawbone in the Hadar region of Ethiopia offer empirical proof that the human species evolved in East Africa.
Imhotep (fl. 2668-2648 B.C.E.)
Born into a commoner family, Imhotep’s intelligence was tangible from an early age, and he quickly acceded to the position of chief architect to the Third Dynasty Pharoah Djoser (r. 2688-2668 B.C.E.), the first recorded architect we know by name. Imhotep later became famous as a priest and doctor, again the first named medical practitioner in at least Egypt, known for his skill as a pharmacist and treater of conditions including appendicitis, gout and arthritis. Imhotep’s most important legacy, however, is that he is the first individual we know of to become deified (glorified as a God) after death- the first recorded human root of religion. During the Late Period of Egypt he became the God of Medicine (bronze Imhotep statues similar to the one pictured became a compulsory possession of all practicing doctors), and records of his worship extend in Greece and the Middle East until the 7 th century A.C.E
Mary Seacole (1805-1881)
Born in Jamaica, Mary Seacole trained as a nurse and sailed to England to offer her services in the Crimean War. Her offer was turned down (presumably) due to racism; she therefore financed her own travel to the Crimea, setting up an independent medicinal store and clinic that utilised her extensive knowledge of both Western and traditional Jamaican medicine. Many soldiers chose to visit Seacole even though army authorities and hospitals chose not to cooperate with her- Florence Nightingale met her several times but repeatedly declined her offer to join her staff- and her success rates were notably higher than Nightingale’s hospital at Scutari. Despite her reputation, and huge support from The Times newspaper upon her return to the UK, Seacole’s pioneering work as a woman entering medicine has only recently been acknowledged.
Wangari Maathai (born 1940)
The first woman in East and Central Africa to gain a PhD (in biology), Professor Wangari Maathai has been the most active figure in the African environmentalist movement over the past three decades. In 1977, she founded the Green Belt Movement, a tree planting programme spanning across Kenya that has to date planted 30 million trees, and has thereafter founded similar movements in countries across Africa including Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, proving instrumental in reduction of soil erosion and groundwater loss across Africa. Maathai was elected to Kenya’s national parliament with a 98% majority in 2002, currently dividing her time between lecturing, political work, and serving as Assistant Minister for Environment. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, the first environmentalist to do so.
