Emmanuel Charles Quist

Emmanuel Charles Quist
1st Speaker of the
Parliament of Ghana
In office
March 6, 1957 – December, 1957
Preceded by New Position
Succeeded by Augustus M. Akiwumi
Speaker of the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly
In office
March 6, 1951 – March 5, 1957
Preceded by New Position
Succeeded by Position abolished on Independence
Personal details
Born 10 March or May 1880[1]
Accra, Ghana
Died 30 March 1959 (aged 79)
Accra, Ghana
Spouse(s) Dinah Nita Bruce (m. 1929)
Relations
Children
  • Paulina Quist
  • Dinah Quist
Occupation

Sir Emmanuel Charles Quist, OBE, also known as Paa Quist (1880, Christiansborg, Accra –† 30 March 1959) was a barrister, judge and the first Ghanaian Speaker of the Legislative Assembly[2] of the Gold Coast and the first Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana.[3]

Biography

Emmanuel Charles Quist was the son of the Reverend Carl Quist, a Basel Mission pastor from Osu, Accra and Paulina Richter, of Ga-Dangme and Danish descent. [4][5] Carl Quist was also of Ga-Dangme and Danish ancestry. [4][6] E. C. Quist was educated at the Basel Mission School in Accra from 1889 to 1896, The Salem School at Osu and then at the Basel Mission Seminary, a theological seminary and teacher's training college at Akropong, Akwapim District where he received training in pedagogy and theology and graduated as a teacher-catechist. [7][8] He served as the headmaster of his alma mater, The Salem School at Osu from 1899 to 1902. [8] Briefly entering business with the Basel Trading Company, he entered the Middle Temple in England in 1910 and was called to the Bar in 1913.[1] He became a Crown Counsellor and barrister in private practice in Accra, and a member of Accra Town Council. He was an extraordinary member of the Legislative Council system in 1925, and a member of the Legislative Council, representing the chiefs of the Eastern Province, from 1934 to 1948. A judge at the Cape Coast high court from 1948 to 1949, he was the first African President of the Legislative Council from 1949 to 1951, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Gold Coast from 1951 to 1957, and Speaker of the National Assembly of Ghana from 1957 to 1959.[1]

On 27 June 1929, Quist married Dinah Nita Bruce of Christiansborg, Accra.[9] Dinah Bruce was from the prominent Bruce family of Accra whose members included Gold Coast physician and journalist, Frederick Nanka-Bruce as well as Ghanaian musician, King Bruce. Quist and Bruce had two daughters Paulina Quist (Mrs. Clerk) and Dinah Quist (Mrs. Annang).[9] E. C. Quist was related to the notable historical Clerk family of Accra, Ghana through his cousin, Anna Alice Meyer whose husband was the theologian and Basel missionary, Nicholas Timothy Clerk.[6][10]

Death and state funeral

Upon his death in 1959, the Ghanaian government accorded him a state funeral with full military honours.

Honours and legacy

Quist was created O.B.E. in 1942, and Knighted in 1952.[1] “The Speakers' Conference Hall” at the Parliament House has been named after Sir Emmanuel Charles Quist.[11]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Michael R. Doortmont, The Pen-Pictures of Modern Africans and African Celebrities by Charles Francis Hutchison: A Collective Biography of Elite Society in the Gold Coast Colony, Brill, 2005, p. 359
  2. ↑ "Barrister E.C. Quist O.B.E. becomes First African President of the Gold Coast [i.e. Ghana] Legislative Council".
  3. ↑ "Rt. Hon. Ebenezer Sekyi Hughes:Speakers of Parliament from 1951 - 2005". Official website of the Parliament of Ghana. Parliament of Ghana. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-04-18.
  4. 1 2 Debrunner, Hans W. (1965). Owura Nico, the Rev. Nicholas Timothy Clerk, 1862-1961: pioneer and church leader. Watervile Publishing House.
  5. ↑ Debrunner, Hans W. (1965). Owura Nico, the Rev. Nicholas Timothy Clerk, 1862-1961,: Pioneer and church leader,. Watervile Pub. House. Archived from the original on 2017-04-14.
  6. 1 2 "Clerk, Nicholas Timothy, Ghana, Basel Mission". www.dacb.org. Archived from the original on 2016-03-28. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
  7. ↑ "Osu Salem". osusalem.org. Archived from the original on 2017-03-29. Retrieved 2017-06-24.
  8. 1 2 "Presbyterian Boys Boarding School, Osu Salem". www.osusalem.org. Retrieved 2017-07-06.
  9. 1 2 "FamilySearch.org". familysearch.org. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  10. ↑ Debrunner, Hans Werner (1965). Owura Nico: The Rev. Nicholas Timothy Clerk, 1862-1961, pioneer and church leader. Waterville Pub. House. Archived from the original on 2013-07-02.
  11. ↑ "Conference Hall named after Ghana's first Speaker". Ghana government. 2007-03-07. Retrieved 2007-04-18.


Political offices
New title Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Gold Coast
1951 – 1957 		Parliament of Ghana
created at Independence
New title Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana
1957 		Succeeded by
Augustus Molade Akiwumi
Notes and references
1. https://web.archive.org/web/20070927045829/http://www.parliament.gh/leadershipdetails.php?id=0003


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