Theophilus Opoku

Theophilus Herman Kofi Opoku
Theophilus Opoku
Born1842
Died7 July 1913(1913-07-07) (aged 70–71)
NationalityBritish subject
EducationBasel Mission Seminary, Akropong
Occupations
Spouses
  • Sophie Nyam (m. 1868)
  • Anna Mary Engmann (m. 1879)
Children8
Parents
  • Nana Yaw Darko (father)
  • Nana Akua Korantema (mother)
Relatives
  • Nana Addo Dankwa, Akuapemhene (grandfather)
  • David Asante (cousin)
ChurchBasel Evangelical Missionary Society
Orders
Ordination1 September 1872, Gold Coast

Theophilus Herman Kofi Opoku (1842 – 7 July 1913) was a native Akan linguist, translator, philologist, educator and missionary who became the first indigenous African to be ordained a pastor on Gold Coast soil by the Basel Mission in 1872. Opoku worked closely with the German missionary and philologist Johann Gottlieb Christaller as well as fellow native Akan linguists, David Asante, Jonathan Palmer Bekoe, and Paul Staudt Keteku in the translation of the Bible into the Twi language.