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date: 17 February 2025

Perry, Ruth Sando (1939– ),  

Source:
Dictionary of African Biography
Author(s):
mary h. moranmary h. moran

Liberian politician and the first female African head of state, was born Ruth Sando Fahnbullah on 16 July 1939 in Dia Town, a rural area of Grand Cape Mount County, in northwestern Liberia. Her parents, Marjon and Al Haji Semila Fahnbullah, were practicing Muslims and members of the Vai ethnic group. In keeping with local practice, she was initiated into the Sande secret society but was also educated in Christian mission schools. Her family was progressive enough to send her to the St. Theresa Convent High School in Monrovia for her secondary education. She continued her education at the University of Liberia, where she enrolled in the Teachers College and received a degree in education. She taught for a period in her home county of Grand Cape Mount and married McDonald Perry, a Liberian politician who was building a career as a judge and member of the national legislature. Ruth Perry was left a widow with seven children at a comparatively young age and was able to use her advanced education to switch to a career in banking to support her family. In the early ... ...

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