# Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti

> Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (1900–1978) was a Nigerian educator and women's rights campaigner who founded the Abeokuta Women's Union and led a 1946–1949 tax protest movement that forced the temporary abdication of the Alake of Abeokuta. Mother of musician Fela Kuti and physicians Beko and Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, she died in 1978 from injuries sustained during the 1977 military raid on Fela's Kalakuta Republic compound.

**Category:** People & Ethnicity · **Updated:** 2026-07-26 19:36:35 · **Canonical:** https://nigeriastuff.org/a/funmilayo-ransome-kuti

## Key facts
- **Born:** 25 October 1900, Abeokuta, as Frances Abigail Olufunmilayo Thomas
- **Died:** 13 April 1978, following injuries from the February 1977 Kalakuta Republic raid
- **Education:** First female student, Abeokuta Grammar School (from 1914); Wincham Hall School for Girls, Cheshire, England (1919–1922)
- **Marriage:** Rev. Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, 20 January 1925
- **Organisation founded:** Abeokuta Ladies Club (1932), renamed Abeokuta Women's Union (1946)
- **Tax protest campaign:** Abeokuta Women's Revolt, 1946–1949; forced Alake Ademola II's temporary abdication, 3 January 1949
- **Children:** Olikoye, Beko and Fela (later Fela Kuti) Ransome-Kuti, and daughter Dolapo

## Sources
- Ransome-Kuti, Funmilayo — Biographical Legacy and Research Foundation (BLERF) (https://blerf.org/index.php/biography/ransome-kuti-funmilayo/)
- How Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti Championed Women's Rights — New Lines Magazine (https://newlinesmag.com/essays/how-funmilayo-ransome-kuti-championed-womens-rights/)
- Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was a Nigerian teacher — Illustrated Women in History (https://illustratedwomeninhistory.com/funmilayo-ransome-kuti-was-a-nigerian-teacher/)

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