Daniel Sharpe Malekebu (March 1, 1889 – October 8, 1978) was a doctor, Baptist missionary, and anti-colonial activist native to Nyasaland (modern Malawi). Malekebu was one of the first students of the Providence Industrial Mission founded by anti-colonial activist John Chilembwe. At the young age of fifteen, Malekebu ran away from home to seek higher education in the United States. He graduated from Meharry Medical College in 1917, becoming the first Malawian person to receive a medical degree.
In 1926, as a missionary with the National Baptist Convention's Foreign Mission Board, he reopened the Providence Industrial Mission for the first time since the 1915 Chilembwe uprising had caused the colonial government to shut it down. In 1929, Malekebu established the Chiradzulu District Native Association, a political forum for the native leaders of Chiradzulu to protest colonial policies. In 1945, Malekebu founded and served as President of the National Baptist Assembly of Africa, a unified organization of Baptist officials from Nyasaland, Mozambique, Northern Rhodesia (modern Zambia), Southern Rhodesia (modern Zimbabwe), and South Africa. By 1950, Malekebu's Providence Industrial Mission had become "the most powerful Christian body in Africa," with over 18,000 members and over 300 churches. In 1967, the city of Nashville, Tennessee held a service to honor Malekebu's fifty years of “service to humanity." In recognition of his important contributions, he received a ceremonial Key to the City of Nashville, the Tennessee Governor's Award for outstanding service, and a Special Letter of Commendation from the White House.
Early life
1889–1905: Childhood in Nyasaland
On March 1, 1889, Daniel Sharpe Malekebu was born in the village of Chiradzulu, located in the Blantyre District of Nyasaland (modern Malawi). He was born to Lisoka Chambo and Malika Malekebu, a powerful Yao chief. After John Chilembwe founded the Providence Industrial Mission in 1900, Malekebu became one of the mission's first students and converts. Malekebu's teacher at the mission school was Emma Beard Delaney, an African American missionary with the National Baptist Convention's Foreign Mission Board. During Malekebu's time at the school, Delaney informally adopted him as her houseboy and interpreter.
1905–1921: Education in the United States
After Delaney returned to the United States in 1905, Malekebu decided to follow her against the will of his parents with hopes to seek a higher education. He ran away from home and walked about 400 miles to the port city of Beira, Mozambique. There, he found a job as a cabin boy on the S.S. Matebele and travelled to London, United Kingdom. From London, he found a job on the S.S. Saint Paul and travelled to the United States. He finally arrived at Ellis Island, New York on August 19, 1905. Within the next several days, he took a train to Columbus, Ohio, where he and Delaney had arranged to meet. Delaney took him back to her home in Fernandina Beach, Florida, where he stayed for the following months.
In 1906, Malekebu started his undergraduate studies at Selma University in Selma, Alabama. In 1910, he transferred to the National Training School in Durham, North Carolina, where he completed his undergraduate studies in 1913. In 1913, Malekebu began a lecture series at churches throughout the Midwest in which he rallied support for African missionary work, often educating people about African culture and history in the process. From 1913 to 1917, Malekebu studied medicine at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, making him the first Malawian person to graduate from medical school. From 1917 to 1918, he studied Tropical Medicine and lectured for the Anthropology Department at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During his time in Philadelphia, he also accepted a merit position as the chief resident physician at the Mudgett Hospital and Training School for Nurses. From 1918 to 1919, Malekebu studied theology at the Moody Bible Institute and served as an assistant minister at the Olivet Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois.
On March 26, 1919, Malekebu married Flora Ethelwyn Zeto. Zeto, an immigrant from the Congo Free State (modern Democratic Republic of the Congo), was the adopted daughter of African American missionary Clara Ann Howard and a graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. From 1919 to 1921, Malekebu and Zeto travelled throughout the South, continuing Malekebu's popular lecture series.
