Cecil Dennis
Charles Cecil Dennis (February 21, 1931 – April 22, 1980) was a Liberian political figure who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under President William Tolbert from 1973 until the coup d'état by Samuel Doe on April 12, 1980. Along with other members of Tolbert's Cabinet, he was promptly put on trial and executed by firing squad ten days after the coup.
He was preceded as Foreign Minister by Rocheforte Lafayette Weeks and eventually replaced by Gabriel Bacchus Matthews.
Biography
Charles Cecil Dennis, Jr, was born in Montserrado County,[1] Liberia, on February 21, 1931. He attended the College of West Africa in Liberia, before going to the USA, where he entered Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1954 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.[2] He then completed his education at Georgetown University School of Law in Washington, DC. He was subsequently called to the bar in Liberia.[3]
In 1960, Dennis was appointed director of the Legislative Drafting Service of the Liberian Senate. In 1965 he set up a private legal business, C. Cecil Dennis Jr. Law, in Monrovia. That same year he was made professor at the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, University of Liberia.[3]
In 1973, Dennis was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, which post he held until his death.
Dennis was executed by soldiers on April 22, 1980, at Barclay Beach, Monrovia, alongside 12 other former leading government officials:[4] Frank E. Tolbert (brother of President WIlliam Tolbert and President Pro-Temp of the Liberian Senate); E. Reginald Townsend, National Chairman of the True Whig Party; Cyril Bright, former Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs; Chief Justice James A. A. Pierre; Richard A. Henries, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Frank J. Stewart, Sr, Director of the Budget; John W. Sherman, Assistant Minister of Commerce and Trade; P. Clarence Parker II, Chairman of the National Investment Council and Treasurer of the True Whig Party; James T. Phillips, former Minister of Finance, former Minister of Agriculture; David Franklin Neal, former Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs; Joseph J. Chesson, Sr, Minister of Justice; and Charles T. O. King, Deputy Minister for Agriculture[5][6][7]
Legacy
The C. Cecil Dennis Jr Auditorium, part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Monrovia, Liberia, is so-named in his honour.[1]
On October 28, 2013, Lincoln University posthumously awarded Cecil Dennis an honorary degree, which was accepted by his widow Agnes Cooper Dennis.[2]
Further reading
- Helene Cooper, The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood (a memoir by Cecil Dennis's cousin),[8] New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008. ISBN 978-0743266246.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 John Weghorst, "The Beach and the Pole – The Execution of C. Cecil Dennis, Jr.", Wonderland 1981.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "The Lincoln University posthumously awards long-overdue honorary degree", The Baltimore Times, October 28, 2013.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Dennis, C. C. (1931-80)", in Makers of Modern Africa, London: Africa Journal Ltd, 1981, pp. 152-53.
- ↑ Leon Dash, "Liberian Soldiers Taunt, Shoot 13 Former Leaders", The Washington Post, April 23, 1980.
- ↑ "Liberia's Dark History - The Coup of 1980", TLC Africa.com.
- ↑ Global News Monitor for April 15-30, 2005 - Liberia, Prevent Genocide International.
- ↑ Source: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, This Child will be Great. Memoirs of a Remarkable Life by Africa's First Woman President, p.102. Cited in Liberia: Past and Present of Africa's Oldest Republic.
- ↑ Wynfred Russell, "Helene Cooper's The House at Sugar Beach: A Book Review", The Liberian Journal.
External links
- The Liberian Crisis:1980-1996 containing a picture of Dennis
