Van Hien was born in Elmina to Carel Hendrik David van Hien (1833–1864), a government official and Acting Governor of the Dutch Gold Coast, and Elizabeth Essuman (ca. 1839–1930), sister of Willem Essuman Pietersen. He was educated at the Cape Coast Government School and, according to family tradition, went to the Netherlands and the United Kingdom for further education (this was not uncommon for the Euro-African elite in Cape Coast and Elmina). When he returned to the Gold Coast in 1878, he began working as an agent for F. & A. Swanzy at Shama, and later for Alexander Miller Bros. at Accra and Winneba. He was partner in the firm of his maternal uncle Willem Essuman Pietersen at Cape Coast, and managed it after his uncle's death in 1914. In his later years he was based in Accra.[2]
Political career
In 1923, Van Hien became a member of the Cape Coast Chamber of Commerce. A year later, he was installed as temporary unofficial member of the Gold Coast Legislative Council. From 1925 until 1927, he served as extraordinary member of the said Legislative Council, and later he served as member of the Cape Coast Town Council.[3]
Van Hien actively promoted the establishment of educational institutions in Cape Coast. He was co-founder of Achimota College and founder of St. Monica's School.[3]
Van Hien and Plange did not have any children. Van Hien died on 4 July 1928 of cerebral haemorrhage and was buried in either the Sekondi Road Cemetery or the Anglican Cemetery in Cape Coast.[4] Van Hien's cousin Kobina Sekyi was his heir.
^Michel Doortmont. "van Hien, Henry". GoldCoastDataBase. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
References
Doortmont, Michel (2004). The pen-pictures of modern Africans and African celebrities by Charles Francis Hutchison: a collective biography of elite society in the Gold Coast Colony. Leiden: Brill. ISBN9789004140974.
March 03, 2023
henry, hien, 1857, 1858, july, 1928, gold, coast, merchant, politician, nationalist, leader, president, national, congress, british, west, africapresident, aborigines, rights, protection, societypreceded, bineysucceeded, bykobina, sekyipersonal, detailsbornca,. Henry van Hien 1857 or 1858 4 July 1928 was a Gold Coast merchant politician and nationalist leader 1 Henry van HienPresident of the National Congress of British West AfricaPresident of the Aborigines Rights Protection SocietyPreceded byJ E BineySucceeded byKobina SekyiPersonal detailsBornca 1857Elmina Dutch Gold CoastDied4 July 1928SpouseMarian Victoria Plange Contents 1 Biography 1 1 Early life and business career 1 2 Political career 1 3 Educationism 2 Personal life 3 Notes 4 ReferencesBiography EditEarly life and business career Edit Van Hien was born in Elmina to Carel Hendrik David van Hien 1833 1864 a government official and Acting Governor of the Dutch Gold Coast and Elizabeth Essuman ca 1839 1930 sister of Willem Essuman Pietersen He was educated at the Cape Coast Government School and according to family tradition went to the Netherlands and the United Kingdom for further education this was not uncommon for the Euro African elite in Cape Coast and Elmina When he returned to the Gold Coast in 1878 he began working as an agent for F amp A Swanzy at Shama and later for Alexander Miller Bros at Accra and Winneba He was partner in the firm of his maternal uncle Willem Essuman Pietersen at Cape Coast and managed it after his uncle s death in 1914 In his later years he was based in Accra 2 Political career Edit In 1923 Van Hien became a member of the Cape Coast Chamber of Commerce A year later he was installed as temporary unofficial member of the Gold Coast Legislative Council From 1925 until 1927 he served as extraordinary member of the said Legislative Council and later he served as member of the Cape Coast Town Council 3 Van Hien served as President of the Aborigines Rights Protection Society and was a founder of the National Congress of British West Africa for which he also served as president 3 Educationism Edit Van Hien actively promoted the establishment of educational institutions in Cape Coast He was co founder of Achimota College and founder of St Monica s School 3 Personal life EditVan Hien married Marian Victoria Plange In his lifetime he has both been a member of the Wesleyan Methodist Church and Chancellor of the Anglican Church at Cape Coast Van Hien was also a freemason 3 Van Hien and Plange did not have any children Van Hien died on 4 July 1928 of cerebral haemorrhage and was buried in either the Sekondi Road Cemetery or the Anglican Cemetery in Cape Coast 4 Van Hien s cousin Kobina Sekyi was his heir Notes Edit Doortmont 2004 pp 32 424 Doortmont 2004 pp 424 448 a b c d Doortmont 2004 pp 424 Michel Doortmont van Hien Henry GoldCoastDataBase Retrieved 25 April 2013 References EditDoortmont Michel 2004 The pen pictures of modern Africans and African celebrities by Charles Francis Hutchison a collective biography of elite society in the Gold Coast Colony Leiden Brill ISBN 9789004140974 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Henry van Hien amp oldid 1097543577, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
