University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Lincoln University. He gave the keynote speech at the 100th Anniversary of the University of Liberia (formally Liberia College), an institution at which his grandfather Edward Wilmot Blyden had been a founding Professor. Though much of his career was spent outside of Sierra Leone, Blyden remained deeply attached to the cultural life of his native Freetown. He was a member of the Zion Methodist Church of Wilberforce St. and an important patriarchal figure in the Muslim communities of Fullah Town and Fourah Bay. He was a Freemason and former Grand Master. He was an honorary member of the Akamori Hunting Society. Blyden's character and its lasting impression has been succinctly summarised by the anthropologist Joseph Opala: He was a man of strong opinions, and he was never shy to voice them. And because he combined a vast amount of knowledge with his opinions, you couldn't forget a conversation with him. Family Edward Blyden was married to Dr. Amelia Elizabeth Blyden (née Kendrick), a retired professor. They have eight children: Edward Walter Babatunde Blyden, a businessman; Isa Jeanette Blyden, a Russian philologist and freelance radio journalist; Bai-Bureh Kendrick Blyden, a Power engineer and engineering consultant; Dr. Fenda Aminata Akiwumi, an assistant professor of environmental geographer and hydrogeologist; Henrietta Cleopatra Blyden, an ESL teacher and freelance writer; Dr. Eluemuno Richard Blyden, a biotechnologist, business-owner and Adviser to the Government of Sierra Leone; Edward Katib Blyden, of ChefBlyden.com; and Dr. Nemata Amelia Blyden-Bickersteth, an Associate Professor of African and African Diasporan History at George Washington University. Selected writings and speeches Blyden, Edward Wilmot Abiòsu Sierra Leone: the pattern of constitutional change, 1924–1951. Blyden III, Edward W. The Idea of African "Neutralism" and "Non-Alignment": An Exploratory Survey in New Nations in a Divided World. K. L. London (ed.), N.Y. & London: Praeger, 1963. Blyden, Edward W., "The Rise and Growth of African Statesmanship: From the Mid-Fifteenth Century to the Present," in Statesmanship in Africa, special supplement to Civilizations, Winter, 1953. Blyden, Edward W., "The Need for Mass Education in Sierra Leone" (a review essay in Memorandum on the Education of African Communities) in West Africa (London), January 1940 (under pseudonym Adjai Onike). References ≤ 1918 births 2010 deaths Sierra Leonean diplomats Sierra Leonean writers Sierra Leone Creole people People of Americo-Liberian descent Sierra Leonean people of Caribbean descent People from Freetown People educated in Freetown, Sierra Leone Permanent Representatives