Frances Abigail Olufunmilayo Thomas was born on 25 October 1900 in Abeokuta, Nigeria, to Chief Daniel Olumeyuwa Thomas (1869–1954), a member of the aristocratic Jibolu-Taiwo family, and Lucretia Phyllis Omoyeni Adeosolu (1874–1956).
Her father farmed and traded palm produce, and her mother worked as a dressmaker.
On her father's side, Frances was descended from Sarah Taiwo, a Yoruba woman who had been captured by slave traders in the early 19th century before eventually returning home to her family in Abeokuta.

Although it was uncommon at the time for Nigerian families to invest in much education for girls, Frances's parents believed in the importance of education for both boys and girls.
She attended Abeokuta Grammar School for her secondary education.
The school had initially been open only to male students, but it admitted its first female students in 1914, and Frances was first among the six girls registered for study that year.
From 1919 to 1922, she went abroad and attended a finishing school for girls in Cheshire, England, where she learned elocution, music, dressmaking, French, and various domestic skills.
It was there that she made the permanent decision to use her shortened Yoruba name, Funmilayo, instead of her Christian name Frances, likely in response to personal experiences of racism in England.
Afterwards, she returned to Abeokuta and worked as a teacher.

On 20 January 1925, Funmilayo married Reverend Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, a member of the Ransome-Kuti family.
Israel had studied at the Abeokuta Grammar School several years ahead of Funmilayo, and while she was still in school the two had developed a friendship followed by a courtship.
Israel found work as a school principal, and he strongly believed in bringing people together and overcoming ethnic and regional divisions.
He later became a co-founder of both the Nigeria Union of Teachers and of the Nigerian Union of Students.
His marriage with Funmilayo would last 30 years – until Israel's death – and was marked by a sense of equality and deep mutual respect between the couple.

After marriage, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti had quit her old job as a teacher, but she soon found other projects.
In 1928 she established one of the first preschool classes in Nigeria.
Around the same time, she started a club for young women of elite families to encourage their "self-improvement", while also organizing classes for illiterate women.
Between 1935 and 1936, the couple arranged to purchase a secondhand car and had it shipped to them from England.
Ransome-Kuti was the first woman in Abeokuta to drive a car.

Ransome-Kuti and her husband had four children: a daughter named Dolupo (1926) and sons Olikoye (1927), Olufela "Fela" (1938), and Bekolari "Beko" (1940).
Frances Abigail Olufunmilayo Thomas was born on 25 October 1900 in Abeokuta, Nigeria, to Chief Daniel Olumeyuwa Thomas (1869–1954), a member of the aristocratic Jibolu-Taiwo family, and Lucretia Phyllis Omoyeni Adeosolu (1874–1956). Her father farmed and traded palm produce, and her mother worked as a dressmaker. On her father's side, Frances was descended from Sarah Taiwo, a Yoruba woman who had been captured by slave traders in the early 19th century before eventually returning home to her family in Abeokuta.
Although it was uncommon at the time for Nigerian families to invest in much education for girls, Frances's parents believed in the importance of education for both boys and girls. She attended Abeokuta Grammar School for her secondary education. The school had initially been open only to male students, but it admitted its first female students in 1914, and Frances was first among the six girls registered for study that year. From 1919 to 1922, she went abroad and attended a finishing school for girls in Cheshire, England, where she learned elocution, music, dressmaking, French, and various domestic skills. It was there that she made the permanent decision to use her shortened Yoruba name, Funmilayo, instead of her Christian name Frances, likely in response to personal experiences of racism in England. Afterwards, she returned to Abeokuta and worked as a teacher.
On 20 January 1925, Funmilayo married Reverend Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, a member of the Ransome-Kuti family. Israel had studied at the Abeokuta Grammar School several years ahead of Funmilayo, and while she was still in school the two had developed a friendship followed by a courtship. Israel found work as a school principal, and he strongly believed in bringing people together and overcoming ethnic and regional divisions. He later became a co-founder of both the Nigeria Union of Teachers and of the Nigerian Union of Students. His marriage with Funmilayo would last 30 years – until Israel's death – and was marked by a sense of equality and deep mutual respect between the couple.
After marriage, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti had quit her old job as a teacher, but she soon found other projects. In 1928 she established one of the first preschool classes in Nigeria. Around the same time, she started a club for young women of elite families to encourage their "self-improvement", while also organizing classes for illiterate women. Between 1935 and 1936, the couple arranged to purchase a secondhand car and had it shipped to them from England. Ransome-Kuti was the first woman in Abeokuta to drive a car.
Ransome-Kuti and her husband had four children: a daughter named Dolupo (1926) and sons Olikoye (1927), Olufela "Fela" (1938), and Bekolari "Beko" (1940).
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti