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Richard Gabriel Akinwande Savage

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Richard Gabriel Akinwande Savage
Born1903
Edinburgh, Scotland
Died1993(1993-00-00) (aged 89–90)
Scotland
Nationality
Occupations
  • Physician
  • Military officer
Known forFirst person of West African heritage to receive a British Army commission
Parents
RelativesAgnes Yewande Savage (sister)

Major Richard Gabriel Akinwande Savage (1903–1993) was a physician, soldier, and the first person of West African heritage to receive a British Army commission.[1]

Early life and family

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He was born in 1903 at 15 Buccleugh Place, in Edinburgh, Scotland, of mixed ancestry to the prominent Nigerian doctor Richard Akinwande Savage of Sierra Leone Creole descent, who married a Scotswoman, Maggie Bowie.[1][2] His sister, Agnes Yewande Savage, also played a pioneering role as the first West African woman to qualify as a medical doctor.[3][4]

Education

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Savage studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, graduated (MB, ChB)[1] in 1926, qualified in 1927, and received his commission as a 2nd lieutenant on 23 September 1940, making him the first West African to be commissioned an officer in the British Army (Seth Anthony of Ghana, has been incorrectly referenced as the first West African to receive a commission in the British Army).[1] In September 1941, Savage was promoted to the rank of captain.[1] He served as a medical doctor in the Asian Theater of World War II, specifically in Burma, where he tended to wounded soldiers from Britain's contingent. Among the soldiers that Savage treated in Burma was Isaac Fadoyebo, a wounded Nigerian soldier in the Royal West African Frontier Force, who recounted the quality of care that Savage provided to him and other West African soldiers.[5]

Personal life

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His first wife was Phyllis Frances Heroina Ribeiro, with whom he had two children (Margaret Yewande Savage and Miguel Babatunde Richard Savage)[6][7] and who died in 1940.[8] In 1954, he married Dora Janet Burman (née Falconer), a British fellow surgeon.[9][10] He retired to Scotland, having found Africa "vexing",[4] and died there in 1993.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Keazor, Ed. "Tracking Captain Savage: The Forgotten Pioneer of African Military History". Nsibidi Institute. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  2. ^ "CAS Students to Lead Seminar On University's African Alumni, Pt. IV: Agnes Yewande Savage". University of Edinburgh - Center for African Studies Postgraduate Students Blog. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  3. ^ Patton, Adell (1996). Physicians, Colonial Racism, and Diaspora in West Africa. University Press of Florida, 1996. p. 28. ISBN 9780813014326. Retrieved 5 March 2016. agnes yewande savage.
  4. ^ a b Dee, Henry (6 February 2023). "Agnes Yewande Savage". UncoverED. University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  5. ^ Phillips, Barnaby (14 October 2014). Another Man's War: The Story of a Burma Boy in Britain's Forgotten Army. Oneworld Publications, 2014. ISBN 9781780745237. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  6. ^ "Death Notice| Margaret Savage", Eastern Daily Press, 19 July 2022.
  7. ^ Mike Savage, "Meet Margaret Yewande Savage, the generous lady behind our scholarship", Fyling Hall School.
  8. ^ "Richard Akinwande Savage", LitCaf Encyclopedia.
  9. ^ "CAS Students to Lead Seminar On University's African Alumni, Pt. IV: Agnes Yewande Savage". University of Edinburgh – Center for African Studies Postgraduate Students Blog. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  10. ^ "Dr. Dora Janet Burman SAVAGE | Obituary". The Times. 11 January 2011 – via Legacy.com.
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