14 May, 1928 – 2 May, 1989

SAMUEL BROOKMAN-AMISSAH was born on the 14th of May 1928, in Accra. His father was Mr. Samuel Brookman-Amissah, who worked for the then Gold Coast Railways rising to become the first African Traffic Inspector. His mother was Mrs. Elizabeth Effie Brookman-Amissah.

Sammy, as he was affectionately called, had his primary school education in Accra and Akim Oda, after which he entered St. Augustine’s College, Cape-Coast, in 1942. His brilliance and affability soon won him popularity among his school mates. He passed out in 1947 with flying colours, obtaining the Cambridge School Certificate with exemption from matriculation. In 1948, he was offered employment as an assistant to the warden of the British Council Hall at Sekondi. Later that year, he gained employment as a Probational Manager with the UAC and was stationed at Cape-Coast and Saltpond.

Not satisfied with this status of life, he left for Accra to explore avenues for further education. During this exploratory trail, Sammy hobnobbed with contemporaries like Jimmy Markham in the then newly established press house of the Evening News before taking up another appointment as a teacher in the Government Boys’ School, Accra.

As he was still unrelenting in his ambition to seek further education, he besought his father’s permission and assistance for studies overseas and left for London as a private student in 1954. In his first letter to his father, which was recently recovered from family archives, he recounted the many strange things and beautiful cities they encountered during their journey through Barcelona, Marseilles, Paris, Dieppe and finally to London. In this letter, he assured his father that even though he was in a different country where being a private student made life quite hard and sometimes unpleasant, there was no turning back for him, and that what he set out to achieve would be duly accomplished.

He assiduously combined his studies with vacation jobs and in the next two years obtained his pre-med qualification in the United Kingdom. He left for West Germany to pursue Dentistry. Upon arriving at the Enlargen University in West Germany Sammy was prevailed upon by his professors to switch from dentistry to medicine.  He worked hard and did so well. One of his professors took to him so much that he made him one of the two top students who always assisted him during his lectures.  Sammy eventually qualified as a fully-fledged medical doctor with distinction and subsequently worked at the University of Enlargen Hospital going on to pursue a postgraduate course in surgery.  After this, he was appointed the Surgical Specialist at the State Hospital of Weiden in the Bavarian Province on the West German-Czechoslovak border.

He worked so hard and tirelessly that in one remarkable feat, it is recorded, he was virtually on his feet for a period of thirty-five hours (35hrs), from one surgical operation after another. This earned him several decorations, trophies and citations from the Weiden State, as well as from individuals and citizens for his meritorious work.

As at the time Dr Samuel Brookman-Amissah became ill, he was well on his way to being accepted as a candidate for professorship in surgery.  Indeed, as the Akan saying goes; “osafo nnsa moho”.  In other words, he saved others, but he could not save himself, passing away on the 2nd of May 1989 at the age of 60.

Aside his profession, Dr Brookman-Amissah was also an accomplished pianist and a man of vitality and versatility.  He is resting peacefully in the sunken Alps of West Germany.  He was at his death, survived by his wife Rosewetha.  His oldest son Dominic Brookman Amissah followed his father’s footsteps and became a medical doctor.  He also has a daughter named Elizabeth Gloria.

 

Reference: Edited funeral brochure published 26th August 1989 for memorial and thanksgiving service, Christ the King, Accra.