Charles Odamtten Easmon, popularly known as Charlie Easmon, was one of Ghana’s most distinguished medical pioneers and a major figure in the development of modern medicine in Ghana and West Africa.

Born on 22 September 1913 in Adawso to Kate Salome Odamtten and John Farrell Easmon. Charles was the first child of his mother. Charles came from a prominent family with deep connections to medicine, education and public service in Ghana and Sierra Leone. He attended Osu Salem and later Achimota College, where he studied alongside Kwame Nkrumah and Theodore S. Clerk.

In 1935, Charles received a government scholarship to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He qualified with an MB, ChB in 1940 and later became the first Ghanaian to obtain a Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

After returning to the Gold Coast, he worked at Korle Bu Hospital, eventually rising to become one of the country’s leading surgeons. In 1960, President Kwame Nkrumah appointed him Chief Medical Officer of Ghana.

Charles later became the first Dean and Professor of Surgery at the University of Ghana Medical School, where he played an important role in developing medical education in Ghana. In 1964, he performed what is widely regarded as the first successful open-heart surgery in Ghana, earning recognition as the “Father of Cardiac Surgery in West Africa.”

Throughout his career, Charles achieved numerous historic firsts. He was the first Ghanaian to professionally qualify as a surgeon, the first Ghanaian Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the first Ghanaian president of the West African College of Surgeons, and the first Ghanaian to be elected a Fellow of the International College of Surgeons.

Beyond medicine, he served as president of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, helped found the Osu Medical Association, designed the Ghana Medical Association’s logo and was involved in national politics.

Charles married Genevieve Dove in 1946, and they had seven children. Known for his private practice and generosity towards patients who could not afford treatment, he became a household name in Ghana.

He retired from medical practice in 1993 and died on 19 May 1994, aged 80.

His legacy continues today. The University of Ghana Medical School awards the Charles Easmon Prize in Surgery to its top-performing medical student in surgery. At the same time, institutions, including the College of Health Sciences and the 37 Military Hospital, have honoured his memory.