Peggy Appiah, British-Ghanaian folklorist and philanthropist, has passed away. She had been a tireless collector of Asante folktales (Anansesɛm) and published the largest collection of Akan proverbs (mmɛbusɛm) to date. Her father, Sir Stafford Cripps, was the British Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1947-1950. Her husband, Joe Appiah, was deeply involved in the Ghanaian independence movement (Kwame Nkrumah was the best man at Appiah’s wedding to the young Miss Cripps), and was subsequently involved in multiple Ghanaian governments. Their son, Kwame Anthony Appiah, is a philosopher and novelist, and a member of the faculty of Princeton University. The Appiahs — writers all — have been one of the most public families in Ghanaian history.

I had hoped that I might someday meet Mrs. Appiah, but her generation of Asantes and Akanists is passing away more quickly than I can get myself back to Ghana. It is to be hoped that the Herculean effort represented by her Bu Me Bɛ — a collection of seven thousand proversb — will be remembered through the work of other folklorists, anthropologists, and cultural historians. Rest in peace, Mrs. Appiah. Wo ne Nyame nkɔ.

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