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Isabelita Hermona: The first notable African woman artist to achieve significant acclaim in European painting and the first Ghanaian to receive “Western Education
ISABELITA HERMONA OF ELMINA (1632 -1692)
“Gratitude,” said Lord Halifax, “cannot be bought; it must be innate.” In the 17th century, a little girl in Elmina, Gold Coast, displayed remarkable humanity. Her sympathy saved Spanish traders from being killed and their goods confiscated by Portuguese traders who had declared an illegal monopoly on trade.
The Portuguese fiercely defended their monopoly in the Gold Coast during the early 16th century, building forts in Axim, Shama, Elmina, and Accra to guard their territories. This forced the English to trade elsewhere, as locals feared the bloody reprisals from the Portuguese. By 1640, when Portugal regained independence from Spain and went to war with Holland over Brazil, the Dutch captured Axim (1642) and removed the Portuguese from the Gold Coast. As part of an agreement involving the exchange of colonies in Brazil and the Gold Coast, the Dutch enforced the monopoly on the Gold Coast with even harsher measures.
During the last weeks of Portuguese control, a Spanish boat was captured, dragged to the shore, and burnt, and its goods were destroyed. A young girl named Esi, from the Royal House, intervened by throwing a stone at a Portuguese trader. This spurred the villagers to act, leading to the Portuguese retreat and the Spanish traders’ escape.
After the Dutch took over, they treated the Spanish captain, Pedro Acunar, a wealthy and renowned trader, more leniently. Pedro wanted to take Esi to Spain to repay her, but it took six years following the exchange of letters for her parents to agree. In 1649, Esi went to Madrid. Renamed Isabelita Hermona in Spain, she received a top education and became an accomplished artist. She studied under renowned artists such as Velázquez and his son-in-law, Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo, and made a special study of the works of the Watteaus (father and son), Rembrandt, Franz Hals, and Van Dyck.
Returning to Elmina in 1691, she found little opportunity for her talents and moved back to Europe (Holland), where she died in 1692.
Isabelita Hermona remains the first notable African woman artist to achieve significant acclaim in European painting. She was one of the women who inspired young Fante women in Elmina to study the history of the world and the arts, as well as mathematics and more. Isabelita Hermona is the first Ghanaian and perhaps African woman born in Africa to have formal education and so far only African woman artist of note, to achieve so much from European schools of painting.”
