Mary Slessor of Calabar

A pioneering woman missionary hailing from Aberdeen in Scotland, Mary Slessor’s journey to Nigeria set an example to all Christian missions; she gained the trust, respect and thanks of the local peoples, and introduced the gospel of Christ.

Most notably from a social viewpoint, Slessor managed to convince the Ibibio tribespeople of southern Nigeria to cease killing infants who were twins. The tribes of the region held a belief that one of two twins is an evil spirit; to be certain the spirit was vanquished, both babies would be left to die of exposure in the countryside. Appalled at this practice, Mary Slessor found, rescued and adopted many twins – seeing that the babies grew up to be healthy children, the tribes repented and ceased the abysmal practice.

In the late 19th century and early 20th centuries, women’s rights were inferior to those of men. Mary Slessor used her public profile to support the women’s suffrage movement which argued for political enfranchisement. Though Slessor did not live to see women achieve the vote in 1918, her contributions to the cause were noteworthy; she believed women could succeed in more kinds of employment, and supported vocational training to this end.