12 Facts About Alex Quaison-Sackey

Alex Quaison-Sackey was a Ghanaian diplomat who served during the first and third republics.

Alex Quaison-Sackey was the first black African to serve as president of the United Nations General Assembly.

Alex Quaison-Sackey received his secondary education in Ghana at Mfantsipim School at Cape Coast in the Central Region and studied at the Intermediate Department at Achimota College near Accra.

Alex Quaison-Sackey then went to the United Kingdom, where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Exeter College, Oxford University, graduating with an honours degree.

Alex Quaison-Sackey studied international relations and international law at the London School of Economics after being appointed one of Ghana's first Foreign Service officers.

Alex Quaison-Sackey served as Ghana's second ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations from 30 June 1959 to 1965.

Alex Quaison-Sackey served as President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1964 to 1965, becoming the first black African to hold that position.

Alex Quaison-Sackey was again appointed as Ambassador to the United States in 1978 by the Supreme Military Council led by Lt.

Alex Quaison-Sackey was appointed as Minister for Foreign Affairs in Kwame Nkrumah's Convention People's Party government.

Alex Quaison-Sackey was on a trip to North Vietnam with Nkrumah when the government was overthrown by a military coup d'etat leading to the formation of the National Liberation Council on 24 February 1966 led by Lt.

Alex Quaison-Sackey died aged 68 at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, following a pulmonary embolism on 21 December 1992.

Alex Quaison-Sackey later wrote about his experiences of diplomatic issues in Ghana's early days in a book called Africa Unbound: Reflections of an African Statesman, which was published by Praeger in May 1963.