Profile Text
Angelou in 1993, courtesy William J. Clinton Presidential Library
Birth Name: Marguerite Annie Johnson
Date of Birth: April 4, 1928
Place of Birth: St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Date of Death: May 28, 2014
Place of Death: Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S.
Ethnicity: African-American, likely one eighth Irish
Maya Angelou was an American poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist.
Maya was the daughter of Vivian Althea (Baxter) and Bailey J. Johnson. She was African-American, and likely had an Irish-born maternal great-grandfather. Maya had a son. Her surname was from her former husband, Greek electrician and musician Tosh Angelos.
Maya’s paternal grandfather was William Johnson (the son of Simon Johnson and Emaline Lankford). William was born in Arkansas.
Maya’s paternal grandmother was Annie Taylor/Henderson (the daughter of Emanuel Taylor and Mary Kentucky Wafford). Annie was born in Arkansas. Her parents were former slaves. Mary was the daughter of Wash Wofford and Ailsie.
Maya’s maternal grandfather was named Thomas Baxter (the son of Addison Baxter and Jane). Thomas was born in Georgia.
Maya’s maternal grandmother was named Marguerite/Margaret Savin/Sabin/Seamus or Lee (the daughter of Mary Lee). Marguerite was born in Illinois, and is believed by some researchers to have been the biological daughter of John Savin, who was born in Ireland. Marguerite’s mother, Mary Lee, was African-American.
A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show African American Lives 2 (2008) stated that Maya’s genetic ancestry is:
*77% Sub-Saharan African *23% European
*77% Sub-Saharan African *23% European
In his 2009 book about the show, In Search of Our Roots: How 19 Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past , Henry Louis Gates, Jr. wrote that 55% of Maya’s African DNA came from West Africa, including the Mende people of Sierra Leone, the Mandinka people of Gambia/Senegal, the Balanta people of Guinea-Bissau, and the Fula people, and 45% of Maya’s African DNA came from the Congo-Angola region.
Sources: Genealogies of Maya Angelou – http://www.geni.com http://www.wikitree.com