20 September 1994(1994-09-20) (aged 70) Cambridge, England
Pen name
Abioseh Nicol
Occupation
Physician
professor
scientist
diplomat
writer
poet
historian
Spouse
Marjorie Johnston
(m. 1950)
Children
5
Davidson Sylvester Hector Willoughby NicolCMG (14 September 1924 – 20 September 1994), also known by his pen name Abioseh Nicol, was a Sierra Leone Creole physician, diplomat, and writer. Nicol contributed significantly to diabetes research from his discoveries in his analysis of the breakdown of insulin in the human body.[1] He was able to secure degrees in the arts, science and commercial disciplines and he contributed to science, history, and literature. Nicol was the first black African to graduate with first-class honours from the University of Cambridge and he was also the first black African elected as a fellow of a college of Cambridge University.
In the early 1950s, he taught at the Ibadan University medical school, researching topical malnutrition, before returning to Cambridge in 1954.[2][3] In 1957, he was named the first black African Fellow of a Christ's College,[4] and went to the college to research insulin under famed scientist Frederick Sanger. Nicol published two works on the topic, The Mechanism of Action of Insulin and The Structure of Human Insulin, both in 1960. He had returned to Freetown in 1958, and was working for the Sierra Leonean government as a pathologist.[3]
Beginning in 1960, Nicol was the first native principal of Fourah Bay College in Freetown for eight years. While principal of the college, he led a large expansion programme.[2] Nicol was a member Public Service Commission until 1968. Nicol continued his administrative career at the university level in Sierra Leone as first the chairman (1964–68) then as Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sierra Leone (1966–68).[5] In 1964, he was appointed a CMG.
He maintained a home for many years in Thornton Road, Cambridge, England, frequently visiting Christ's College, of which he had been made a distinguished Honorary Fellow, meanwhile serving from 1987 until retiring in 1991 as a visiting professor of international studies at the University of California (1987–88) and University of South Carolina (1990–91). Nicol retired in 1991 at the age of 67 to Cambridge, where he died on 20 September 1994 at the age of 70.[6] He was president of the World Federation of United Nations Associations from 1983 to 1987.[5][6]
Nicol's writings
Beginning in 1965 with Two African Tales,[7] Nicol was a published author of short stories, as well as poetry, music, academic literature and a biography of Africanus Horton, an early Sierra Leonean author and one of the founders of African nationalism. Nicol's last piece of published work was Creative Women in 1982.[3][5][8]
