#MuseumsUnlocked #WestAfrica This monument at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg commemorates Anton-Wilhelm Amo (1703-1759), the first person of African descent to teach at a Germany University. 
Amo was born near the town of Axim in present day Ghana, and at the age of 4 was taken—either by a slave trader or a missionary (here the historical record is unclear)—to Amsterdam, where was given as a present to Duke Anton Ulrich of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.
Fortunately, the Duke saw fit to educate Amo, instead of forcing him into a life of labor. Amo first attended a grammar school, where he received a classical education, and then the universities of Helmstedt and Halle, where he studied law.
His dissertation (whereabouts unknown) “The Rights of Moors in Europe” argued that Europeans had fundamentally violated Roman law in their treatment of Africans. This caused considerable controversy so he switched to the University of Wittenberg, where he studied philosophy.
Eventually, Amo was lured back to Halle with the promise of a professorship in philosophy, which he held between 1736 and 1740. He then taught at the University of Jena until loss of support from the House of Brunswick, combined with increasing racism led him to return to Ghana
This summer I had planned to visit what looks like an amazing exhibition at the Kunstverein in Braunschweig “Thinking Through, With and By Anton Wilhelm Amo.” kunstvereinbraunschweig.de/en/exhibitions….
