Honors Roll in for Renowned Liberian Historian

Joseph Saye Guannu, a renowned historian and author, passed away on Monday at the age of 81.

He has received praise for leading a straightforward, admirable life.

Dr. Guannu is the best of his generation, according to a Facebook post by the former defense minister Brownie Samukai.

Mr Samukai said the late author “will be remembered as the remarkable professor… who wrote actual facts of Liberian history… and empirically challenged and corrected several myths”.

Veteran politician Togba-Nah Tipoteh said Dr Guannu’s work “remains the sharing of the truth about the people who occupy the public space called Liberia”.

He added that “the truth from the knowledge of Prof Dr Guannu became most important because working with this truth is the best way to solve Liberia’s problems”.

The late Dr. Guannu served as an ambassador to the US.

Numerous historical works, such as The Liberian History Before and up to 1847, The Inaugural Addresses of Liberian Presidents, Introduction to the Liberian government, and The Perennial Problems of Liberian History, were written by him.

He was born in Sanniquellie, a city in the hilly county of Nimba, in the region’s northeast. As a small child, he observed the momentous meeting of the presidents of Ghana, Liberia, and Guinea in 1959 to start discussions about the creation of the African Union, which is now in existence.