August Agbola O'Browne

Biography

August Agbola O'Browne was born on 22 July 1895 in Lagos to Nigerian parents, possibly of Yoruba origin. He immigrated to Britain, then joined a travelling theatre group and arrived in Poland in 1922, settling at Złota Street in Warsaw. He worked as a professional drummer in Warsaw clubs. In 1928 he recorded his first album, becoming the first West African jazz musician to do so. He married Polish woman Zofia Pykowna; they had two sons, Ryszard (born 1928) and Aleksander (born 1929). That marriage ended, and his family travelled to the UK when war broke out. He later married Olga Miechowicz and had further children. Friends and neighbours described him as intelligent, courteous, and a polyglot speaking six languages. In 1949 he joined the Union of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy. In a survey he claimed to have fought in the 1939 Invasion of Poland, defending besieged Warsaw, and in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising with the code name "Ali," belonging to a unit led by Corporal Aleksander Marciński (code name "Łabędź") in the Śródmieście district. Historians confirmed that battalion "Iwo" fought in Śródmieście Południowe. Another participant, Jan Radecki (code name "Czarny"), reported seeing a black man at battalion Iwo's headquarters at 74 Marszałkowska Street, possibly in the communication section, but did not recall exact personal data. There are indications O'Browne was connected with the pre-uprising resistance and distributed illegal underground newspapers. After the war, around 1949, he worked in the Department of Culture and Art of the City of Warsaw, then continued his music career playing in Warsaw restaurants. He emigrated to Great Britain in 1958. In London he worked as a percussionist, often at a studio in Soho, and lived with his family in Camden Town.