Sylvia Leith-Ross

**Sylvia Hope Leith-Ross**, MBE ( *née* **Ruxton** ) (30 Satumba 1884 - 12 Fabrairu 1980) ƙwararriyar masaniyar ɗan adam ce kuma marubuciya 'yar Ingila wacce ta yi aiki a Najeriya.

## Rayuwar farko
An haifi Sylvia Hope Ruxton a Landan, 'yar Admiral William Fitzherbert Ruxton da Sylvia Howland Grinnell Ruxton. Mahaifinta babban jami'in soja ne a rundunar sojojin ruwa ta Royal Navy ; mahaifiyarta 'yar Amurka ce, 'yar Henry Grinnell kuma 'yar'uwar Henry Walton Grinnell . Sylvia da mahaifiyarta sun ƙaura zuwa Paris a shekarar 1896, inda ta halarci makaranta. Tarihin Sylvia, *Cocks in the Dawn* (1944), ya tuna wannan lokacin a matsayin farkon soyayyarta da Faransa a tsawon rayuwarta. 

## Sana'a
A shekarar 1907, a matsayin sabuwar amarya, ta ƙaura zuwa Zungeru a Najeriya, inda mijinta, Arthur Leith-Ross, shi ne babban jami'in sufuri na rundunar sojojin Burtaniya. Ta koma Najeriya a shekarar 1910 a matsayin bazawara, don zama tare da ɗan'uwanta da matarsa Geneviève. Matan biyu sun buga wani littafin girke-girke, *West African Cookery* (1908),  wanda ya shahara tsakanin samarin Turai da suka fara zuwa Najeriya kuma ba su saba da girke-girke ko kayan lambu na Yammacin Afirka ba.  A shekarar 1921, ta buga littafin *Fulani Grammar*, wani jagora na asali ga harshen Fulani tare da wasu tatsuniyoyi da aka fassara.  

A shekarun 1920, ɗan'uwanta yana zaune a Legas; an naɗa Sylvia Leith-Ross a matsayin "Mai Kula da Ilimi" a 1925. [1] Ta taimaka wajen kafa Kwalejin Sarauniya, Legas, makarantar kwana ta 'yan mata, kuma ta kafa makarantar 'yan mata a Kano. [2] A 1931 an mayar da ita Ingila don dawo da lafiyarta. Lokacin da ta sake dawowa, ta yi amfani da ƙungiyar bincike ta Leverhulme don gudanar da nazarin ilimin ɗan adam a tsakanin matan gabashin Najeriya, bayan Yaƙin Mata ; wannan aikin ya haifar da littafin Matan Afirka: Nazarin Ibo na Najeriya (1939). [3] [4]

A lokacin Yaƙin Duniya na Ɗaya, Sylvia Leith-Ross, ta yi amfani da iya magana da Faransanci, ta yi aikin sa kai a asibitocin soja a ƙarƙashin kulawar ƙungiyar agaji ta Red Cross ta Faransa. Wannan aikin ya haifar da aiki a wani asibiti a Landan daga 1920 zuwa 1925. Ta kuma yi aiki a asibitocin soja a lokacin Yaƙin Basasa na Spain da kuma farkon Yaƙin Duniya na Biyu . Ta kasance a Najeriya a sauran Yaƙin Duniya na Biyu, wani ɓangare na samar da bayanan sirri game da yankunan mulkin mallaka na Faransa ga Ƙungiyar Binciken Siyasa da Tattalin Arziki.  An rubuta wasu littattafai biyu, *Littafin Tattaunawar Afirka* (1944, littafin tarihin tafiya) da kuma *Bayan Nijar* (1951) a wannan lokacin.   

A ƙarshen rayuwarta, ta shafe shekaru goma (1956 zuwa 1966) tana tattara tukwane da yin hira da masu yin tukwane a Najeriya. Littafinta na ƙarshe da aka buga a rayuwarta, *Nigerian Pottery* (1970), ya rubuta abubuwan da ta gano a cikin hotuna da rubutu, a matsayin kundin wani baje kolin da ta shirya a Gidan Tarihi na Jos . 

## Rayuwa ta sirri
Sylvia Ruxton ta auri Arthur Leith-Ross, wani jami'in Kanada wanda ya yi aiki a Arewacin Najeriya tare da Upton Fitzherbert Ruxton, ɗan'uwan Sylvia. Sylvia ta rasu tana da shekaru 24, lokacin da Arthur ya mutu sakamakon zazzabin ruwan sama . Ta mutu a Holland Park, London a shekarar 1980, tana da shekaru 95.  Wani littafi kuma, tarihin rayuwarta mai suna *Stepping Stones: Memoirs of Colonial Nigeria, 1907–1960*, an buga shi bayan mutuwarta, a shekarar 1983. 

## Manazarta