Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings Death: Iconic Photos of the Former First Lady Through History
As Ghana mourns the passing of former first lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, YEN.com.gh looks back on her mark on history through some photos.
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Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings' time as the longest serving first lady, from June 4, 1979, to September 24, 1979 and from December 31, 1981, to January 7, 2001, meant she was able to rub shoulders with iconic figures across three decades.
Born Nana Konadu Agyeman on November 17, 1948, in Cape Coast, she was educated in Achimota School, where she met her future husband, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings.
She went on to study Art and Textiles at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
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In 1975, she earned an interior design diploma from the London College of Arts.
Her studies also took her to the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, Johns Hopkins University and the Institute for Policy Studies in Baltimore, USA.
She rubbed shoulders with some of the most iconic artistic figures in history. In 1982, she met with Maya Angelou, the acclaimed author, at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.
Agyeman-Rawlings also met with Lincoln University's president at the time, Niara Sudarkasa.
Source: Getty Images
Perhaps the most famous person she ever met was the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, at a charity event in 1995, where she received a unique gift from him.
She was presented with an antique sword from the Saudi Arabian royal family
Source: Getty Images
In 1999, she was at the White House to meet with the first family, the Clintons.
She attended a state dinner with her husband during an official visit to the US.
Like Hilary Clinton, she was a dedicated women's rights advocate and a trailblazer who repeatedly challenged the political status quo, cementing her legacy as one of the most significant and formidable female figures in the nation's post-independence era.
Agyeman-Rawlings was often referred to as the ‘Iron Lady’ of Ghanaian politics due to her activism in the 1980s and 1990s.
As First Lady, she set up the December 31st Women's Movement in 1982 to champion the emancipation of women.
The movement was a powerful, grassroots machine focused on mobilising and empowering women, especially in rural Ghana.
She believed women held the key to breaking the cycle of poverty.
Also, like Clinton, she contested to be president but failed in multiple tries. They both contested in 2016.
Agyeman-Rawlings became the first woman in Ghana's history to run for president that year.
She also contested to be president in 2020 but ended her campaign prematurely after the death of her husband.
Source: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images
Agyeman-Rawlings' most recent public appearances have been marked by grieving.
Her husband, former Ghana President Jerry John Rawlings, died in November 2020 at the age of 73.
Most recently, she was part of the dignitaries who laid wreaths at the Forecourt of the Jubilee House to honour the eight public servants who recently lost their lives in a helicopter accident.
She also took part in the Dote Yie funeral rites for the late Asantehemaa, Nana Konadu Yiadom III, in September.
Source: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images
About Nana Konadu's death
YEN.com.gh reported that Agyeman-Rawlings died at Ridge Hospital in Accra.
She was 76 years old. The Rawlings family has yet to release a statement on the passing.
A statement issued by the Presidency said she died on the morning of October 23, 2025, after a short illness. This was after Agyeman-Rawlings' daughter, Zenator, officially informed the presidency of the passing.
The government expressed its condolences to the bereaved family.
Proofreading by Samuel Gitonga, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.
Source: YEN.com.gh
