John Atta Mills Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Early life== Mills was born on 21 July 1944 in [[Tarkwa]], in the [[Western Region, Ghana|Western Region]] of Ghana.<ref name="bbcbio">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7804884.stm |title=Profile: Ghana President John Atta Mills |date=3 January 2009 |work=BBC News |access-date=24 July 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120913041338/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7804884.stm |archive-date=13 September 2012 }}</ref> His parents were John Atta Mills Sr., an educator, who taught at the [[Komenda College of Education|Komenda Teacher Training College]] and Mercy Dawson Amoah.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=1 February 2022|title=Launch of the John Evans Atta Mills (JEAM) Memorial Heritage|url=https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/LIVESTREAMING-Launch-of-the-John-Evans-Atta-Mills-JEAM-Memorial-Heritage-1458904|access-date=1 February 2022|website=GhanaWeb|language=en}}</ref> He was the second child (and first son) among seven siblings.<ref name=":2" /> A member of the [[Fante people|Fante]] ethnic group, he hailed from the town of Ekumfi Otuam in the Mfantsiman East constituency of the [[Central Region, Ghana|Central Region]] of Ghana.<ref name="ngrguardiannews1">{{cite web |title=John Atta Mills: Death of an African leader |url=http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=93356:john-atta-mills-death-of-an-african-leader&catid=73:policy-a-politics&Itemid=607 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601233735/http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=93356:john-atta-mills-death-of-an-african-leader&catid=73:policy-a-politics&Itemid=607 |archive-date=1 June 2013 |access-date=27 July 2012 |publisher=Ngrguardiannews.}}</ref> He had his primary and middle school education at [[Huni Valley]] [[Methodist]] [[Primary School]] and [[Komenda]] [[Methodist]] [[Middle School]] respectively.<ref>{{cite web |date=9 August 2012 |title=Gold Fields to equip Mills' alma mata with ICT centre | Business |url=http://business.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201208/91909.php?storyid=91909 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120814035435/http://business.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201208/91909.php?storyid=91909 |archive-date=14 August 2012 |access-date=27 September 2012 |publisher=Business myjoyonline.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=10 August 2012 |title=Mourners at KEEA pay last respects to Prof Atta-Mills |url=http://www.modernghana.com/news/411018/1/mourners-at-keea-pay-last-respects-to-prof-atta-mi.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813035848/http://www.modernghana.com/news/411018/1/mourners-at-keea-pay-last-respects-to-prof-atta-mi.html |archive-date=13 August 2012 |access-date=27 September 2012 |publisher=ModernGhana}}</ref> He then proceeded to the prestigious [[Achimota School]] for his secondary education, where he completed the Ordinary and Advanced-Level Certificates in 1961 and 1963 respectively, and the [[University of Ghana]], [[Legon]], where he completed a bachelor of law degree, [[LLB]] and a professional law certificate in 1967.<ref name="bbcbio"/><ref name="ngrguardiannews1" /> Mills studied at the [[London School of Economics|London School of Economics and Political Science]] where he obtained an [[Master of Laws|LLM]] in 1968 and earned a [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] in Law at the [[SOAS School of Law|School of Oriental and African Studies School of Law]], part of the federal [[University of London]],<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last1=Hirsch |first1=Afua |last2=correspondent |first2=West Africa |date=24 July 2012 |title=Ghanaian president John Evans Atta Mills dies, aged 68 |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/24/ghanaian-president-john-evans-atta-mills-dies |access-date=26 June 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> after completing his doctoral thesis in the field of [[taxation]] and [[economic development]] in 1971 at the age of 27.<ref name="bbcbio"/> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page