Kenneth Buxton

Kenneth Buxton was a prominent leader in the medical missionary world working in the mid-20th century in Africa. Buxton was born July 19, 1909, in Hertfordshire, England, and died November 1, 2001, in Wallingford, Oxfordshire. He started a medical school in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He eventually was evacuated from Ethiopia because of the Italian Invasion by Mussolini and returned to England. However, he returned to Burundi in 1938 which was then part of Ruanda-Urundi administered by Belgium through a League of Nations mandate. With very minimal resources and external funding, he built a hospital at Ibuye for the Ruanda Mission, simultaneously in charge of the surgery and medical procedures while also training nurses and other doctors. In 1954, he returned to England to work and Medical Superintendent for Mildmay Mission Hospital. Early life Buxton was born in England and attended Trinity College, Cambridge. He then worked as a surgeon and casualty officer at St. Thomas' before being called to service as a medical missionary. Missionary Work Buxton initially went to work in Ethiopia, however in 1935, Emilio De Bono made it into Ethiopia from Eritrea, which led Ethiopia to declare war on Italy. Buxton returned home with the exiled King of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie.