Peggielene Bartels

Amuah Afenyi VI
Hon. Nana of Tantum
Investiture 25 September 2008[1][2]
Predecessor Amuah Afenyi V[3]:2
Full name
Peggielene Bartels
Born 1953 (age 61–62)
Cape Coast, Ghana[3]:2
Religion Christian[4]

Nana Amuah-Afenyi VI (born 1953[4]), known informally as King Peggy,[2] is the nana (chief) of the town of Tantum[5] (or Otuam[1][2]), in the Mfantsiman Municipal District, Ghana. Born Peggielene Bartels in Ghana and a naturalized citizen of the United States, she has worked as a secretary at the Embassy of Ghana in Washington, D.C. since the 1970s. Following the death of her uncle, Tantum's former chief, in 2008, she was chosen to replace him, through a series of traditional rituals.[2]

Since chosen the first female chief of her village,[2] she has spent several weeks each year in Ghana,[4] on the anniversary of her coronation.[1] She plans to become a full-time chief after her retirement from the embassy, at which time she will oversee a 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) family-owned estate and occupy an eight-bedroom palace.[3][6]

Bartels is a member of the Afro-European Bartels family, whose ancestor Cornelius Ludewich Bartels was Governor-General of the Dutch Gold Coast between 1798 and 1804, and whose son Carel Hendrik Bartels was the most prominent biracial slave trader on the Gold Coast in the second quarter of the nineteenth century.[7]

Tantum is a coastal fishing village in Mfantsiman Municipal District.[5] It is located at 5°13.3′N 0°48.5′W / 5.2217°N 0.8083°W. (It may be part of the Ekumfi District, which was formed from part of the Mfantseman District in 2012.[8])

Book

She and writer Eleanor Herman have co-written King Peggy (ISBN 978-0-385-53432-1), published in 2012 by Doubleday.[9]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Connelly, Phoebe (2012-12-27). "In Washington, D.C., Peggielene Bartels is a Secretary. In Ghana, She’s a King.". Mental Floss. Retrieved 2012-12-30.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Quist-Arcton, Ofeibea (November 11, 2010). "In Ghanaian Village, American Woman Reigns As King". Morning Edition. NPR. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Herman, Eleanor (2010-03-14). "All the King's Men: As the first female ruler of Otuam, Ghana, Peggielene Bartels has had to deal with a legacy of corruption — and no shortage of sexism". Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "About the Authors". kingpeggy.com. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Municipality information". mfantseman.ghanadistricts.gov.gh. Mfantseman Municipal Assembly. 2006. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
  6. ↑ Schwartzman, Paul (2009-09-16). "Secretary by Day, Royalty by Night: Embassy Worker Remotely Rules a Ghanaian Town". Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
  7. ↑ "Bartels, Carel Hendrik". GoldCoastDataBase. 2012-04-06. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  8. ↑ "Ekumfi (New)". Retrieved 2013-08-06. Ekumfi District with its capital Essarkyir was carved from Mfantseman and forms part of the new districts and municipalities created in the year 2012 and were inaugurated at their various locations simultaneously on the 28th June, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Official website of King Peggy the Biography". kingpeggy.com. Retrieved 2012-03-13.