Dorothy Musuleng-Cooper

Dorothy Musuleng-Cooper
Born Dorothy Harriet Eugenia Cooper
September 9, 1930
Arthington, Liberia
Died June 30, 2009(2009-06-30) (aged 78)
Monrovia, Liberia
Citizenship Liberia
Alma mater San Francisco State University
Known for first female Minister of Foreign Affairs in Liberia

Dorothy Harriet Eugenia Musuleng Cooper (also known as "D-Mus," September 9, 1930 - June 30, 2009) was a Liberian educator, politician and the first woman to serve as Foreign Minister in Liberia.

Biography

Cooper was born in Arthington in Montserrado County.[1] Cooper attended San Francisco State University with a bachelor's and master's degree in Elementary Education.[1]

In 1994, she was appointed as Foreign Minister of Liberia,[2] by the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL).[3] Cooper was the first woman to hold that position in Liberia.[4] She also filled the last open spot, completing the seating of the Liberian National Transitional Government.[5] During her time as Foreign Minister, she was part of a delegation to attempt to release United Nations hostages in Sierra Leone.[6]

Prior to her appointment, she was an education minister in Charles Taylor's shadow government.[7] She had also previously served as the principal of Cuttington University College.[8]

Later, in 2001, Taylor's government established a Ministry of Gender and Development (MoGD) and appointed Cooper as the first minister to that position.[9]

Cooper had eight children.[1] She died on June 30, 2009 at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Monrovia.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Dr. Dorothy Harriet Eugenia Musuleng Cooper 'D-Mus'". People to People: Liberia Online News. June 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  2. ↑ Easy Prey: Child Soldiers in Liberia. New York: Human Rights Watch. 1994. p. 11. ISBN 1564321398.
  3. ↑ Bekoe, Dorina A. (2008). Implementing Peace Agreements: Lessons from Mozambique, Angola, and Liberia. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 113. ISBN 978-0230602595.
  4. 1 2 "Obituary for Liberia Associate Director for Training Musuleng "D. Mus" Cooper". Peace Corps. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  5. ↑ Fleischman, Janet (1994). "Rights and the Civil War in Liberia". Liberian Studies Journal 19 (2): 174. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  6. ↑ The Prosecutor of the Special Court v. Charles Ghankay Taylor (PDF) (court transcript). Special Court for Sierra Leone. 2008. pp. 6692–6693. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  7. ↑ "Warring Liberians Form Government to Rule Until Elections". Los Angeles Times. 17 August 1993. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  8. ↑ Ellis, Stephen (1999). The Mask of Anarchy: The Destruction of Liberia and the Religious Dimension of an African Civil War. New York: New York University Press. p. 135. ISBN 0814722199.
  9. ↑ Kindervater, Lisa (2013). Seize the Day: Gender Politics in Liberia’s Transition to Peace and Democracy (PDF) (document). Halifax, Nova Scotia: Dalhousie University. p. 63. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
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