Cecil Dennis

Charles Cecil Dennis Jr (February 21, 1931 – April 22, 1980) was a Liberian political figure who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under President William Tolbert from 1973 until the 1980 Liberian coup d'état led by Samuel Doe. Along with 11 other current and former members of the Liberian government, he was tried by a military tribunal and executed by firing squad ten days after the coup . Biography Charles Cecil Dennis, Jr, was born in Montserrado County, Liberia, on February 21, 1931. He attended the College of West Africa in Liberia, before going to the United States, where he entered Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1954 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. In the fall of 1951, Dennis joined the Beta chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity at Lincoln. He then completed his education at Georgetown University School of Law in Washington, DC. He was subsequently called to the bar in Liberia. In 1960, Dennis was appointed director of the Legislative Drafting Service of the Liberian Senate. In 1965, he set up a private legal business, C. Cecil Dennis Jr. Law, in Monrovia. That same year he was made professor at the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, University of Liberia. In 1973, Dennis was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, the post he held until his death.