Africanus Horton

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Africanus Horton (1835-1883), also known as James Beale, was a writer and folklorist from Sierra Leone.

Africanus was born near Freetown, Sierra Leone as James Horton; he later assumed the name of "Beale" after his grammar school headmaster and the name "Africanus." Due to the harsh climate of West Africa, the British were training members of the local population as doctors. Through this program, Horton gained the chance to study at King's College in London and the University of Edinburgh, from which he received an M.D. in April 1859.

In his varied career, he served as a physician, an officer in the British Army, a banker, and a mining entrepreneur. In addition, he wrote a number of books and essays, the most widely remembered of which is his 1868 Vindication of the African Race, an answer to the white racist authors emerging in Europe. His writings look ahead to African self-government, anticipating many events of the 1950s and 1960s, and Horton is often seen as one of the founders of African nationalism.