Joseph Kwame Kyeretwie Boakye Danquah (18 December 1895 – 4 February 1965) was a Ghanaian politician, scholar, anglophile, lawyer and statesman.

[1] Danquah was born on 18 December 1895 in the town of Bepong in Kwahu in the Eastern Region of Ghana (then the Gold Coast).

On successful completion of his standard seven examinations in 1912, he was employed by Vidal J. Buckle, a barrister-at-law in Accra, as a clerk, a job that aroused his interest in law.

After passing the Civil Service Examinations in 1914, Danquah became a clerk at the Supreme Court of the Gold Coast, which gave him the experience to be appointed by his brother, Nana Sir Ofori Atta I, who had become chief two years earlier, as secretary of the Omanhene's Tribunal in Kyebi.

In 1929 he helped J. E. Casely Hayford found the Gold Coast Youth Conference (GCYC) and was Secretary General from 1937 to 1947.

[1][2] In 1935, he became an executive member of the International African Friends of Ethiopia, a Pan-Africanist organization based in London.

Danquah's historical research led him to agree with Nkrumah's proposition that on independence the Gold Coast be renamed Ghana after the early African empire of that name.

[6] However, Danquah and Nkrumah subsequently disagreed over the direction of the independence movement and parted ways after two years.

On 3 October 1961, Danquah was arrested under the Preventive Detention Act, on the grounds of involvement with plans to subvert the CPP government and kill Nkrumah.

He suffered a heart attack – some claimed he was tortured – and died while in detention at Nsawam Medium Prison on 4 February 1965.