Theophilus Opoku

Theophilus Herman Kofi Opoku (1842 – 7 July 1913) was a native Akan linguist, translator, philologist, educator and missionary who became the first indigenous African to be ordained a pastor on Gold Coast soil by the Basel Mission in 1872. Opoku worked closely with the German missionary and philologist Johann Gottlieb Christaller as well as fellow native Akan linguists, David Asante, Jonathan Palmer Bekoe, and Paul Staudt Keteku in the translation of the Bible into the Twi language.

Early life and education Theophilus Opoku was born in 1842 at Akropong in Akuapem, about 48 km (30 miles) north of Accra. Yaw Darko was a practitioner of the Akan traditional religion and died when Theophilus was young. Opoku's grandfather was the paramount chief of Akropong, Omanhene, Nana Addo Dankwa.

Legacy The Gold Coast historian and pastor, Carl Christian Reindorf (1834 – 1917) narrated the success of the Basel missionaries between 1850 and 1875, capturing in part the legacy of Theophilus Opoku's life and work:. Iheanacho, Maureen O. (2014). "Theophilus Opoku, Indigenous Pastor and Missionary Theologian, 1842-1913." Sub Saharan Publishers Iheanacho, Maureen O. (ed.) (2018).By Foot to Salaga Theophilus Opoku's Diary of a Momentous Journey (1877) Dots Concept Keleku, H. K. (1965) “David Asante and Theophilus Opoku,” Accra: Waterville Publishing House