Augusta Jawara

Hannah Augusta Darling Jawara (née Mahoney; May 1924 – 21 January 1981), was a Gambian nurse, playwright and activist for women's rights. She was the first wife (from 1955 to 1967) of Sir Dawda Jawara, Prime Minister of the Gambia.

Life

Hannah Augusta Darling Mahoney was born to a prominent Christian Aku Creole family. She was the daughter of Sir John Mahoney, the first Speaker of the Legislative Council of the Gambia, and his wife, Hannah. Augusta's sister was Louise N'Jie.{{cn|date=January 2023}}

She studied at Mohammedan High School, where she first met her future husband, (future president) Dawda Jawara,Saikou Jammeh, [http://dailynews.gm/africa/gambia/article/a-hand-of-destiny "A Hand of Destiny"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419124016/http://dailynews.gm/africa/gambia/article/a-hand-of-destiny |date=2012-04-19 }}, The Daily News, 21 January 2011. Accessed 21 November 2012. before training in nursing in Edinburgh, Scotland.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19650211&id=6WJAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mqMMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2994,1852824 "Scots in Gambia"], The Glasgow Herald, 11 February 1965, p. 8. Accessed 21 November 2012.

In February 1955, she married Dawda Jawara.{{cite book|author1=Arnold Hughes|author2=David Perfect|title=Historical Dictionary of The Gambia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0C1eWHq8LZ4C&pg=PA113|access-date=21 November 2012|year=2008|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-5825-1|page=113}} Their first child was born in Edinburgh, where her husband had returned to study. In 1960, she stood for election to the House of Representatives in the 1960 elections, contesting Soldier Town in Bathurst unsuccessfully for her husband's party, the PPP. She thereby became the first woman candidate to stand in a Gambian national election.{{cite book|author1=Hughes|author2=Perfect|title=Historical Dictionary of The Gambia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0C1eWHq8LZ4C&pg=PA245|access-date=20 November 2012|year=2008|page=244|publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810862609}}

In 1962, she established the Women's Contemporary Society.{{Cite web |url=http://gamwriters.com/africa/gambia/post/2008/8/16/lady-augusta-d-mahoney-1924-1981 |title=Jawara, Augusta D. (1924 - 1981) |access-date=21 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316005944/http://gamwriters.com/africa/gambia/post/2008/8/16/lady-augusta-d-mahoney-1924-1981 |archive-date=16 March 2012 |url-status=dead }} Her play, The African King, was produced at the Negro Arts Festival in Dakar in 1966.{{cite book|author=Abdoulaye Saine|title=Culture and Customs of Gambia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ikWccsfwZJAC&pg=PA75|access-date=20 November 2012|year=2012|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-35910-1|page=75}}

In 1967, she and Dawda Jawara divorced, and he reconverted to Islam.{{cn|date=January 2023}} In 1968, she published Rebellion - "perhaps the first avowedly feminist, pro-girl child book in The Gambia's literary history and tradition". Published under a pseudonym, Rebellion was a play about Nyasta, a teenage girl in a rural village who struggles to continue her education rather than suffer an arranged marriage.Rosamond S. King, "Gambian Women's Voices", SABLE Litmag of New Writing, Autumn/Fall 2007. [http://wordsbody.blogspot.co.uk/2007/10/gambian-womens-voices.html Excerpted] online. Accessed 21 November 2012. At the time it was published, she was President of the Gambia Women's Federation, which she helped to establish from women's associations in the Greater Banjul Area.Isatou Njie-Saidy, [http://www.statehouse.gm/Speeches/vp-Women's-Day%20_08032011.htm Keynote Address] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221959/http://www.statehouse.gm/Speeches/vp-Women's-Day%20_08032011.htm |date=3 March 2016 }}, 8 March 2001.