PRELIMINARY LISTING OF CARIBBEAN INTEGRATION ARCHITECTS
EARLY PROPONENTS OF WEST INDIES FEDERATION
T.A. Marryshow: Theophilus Albert Maricheau (7 November 1887 – 19 October 1958) was born in Grenada. In 1903, he took a job with William Galwey Donovan, who was a newspaper publisher and printer. His company produced newspapers, advocating representative government and a West Indian federation. Marryshow advanced quickly from delivering newspapers to being a competent journalist and then sub-editor of the St. George’s Chronicle and Grenada Gazette in 1908. At the same time, he became active in local politics. Together with C. F. P. Renwick, Marryshow established a new paper, The West Indian, which advocated a Federation of the West Indies.
Marryshow co-founded the Grenada Workingmen’s Association in 1931 and in 1945 was appointed as the first president of the Caribbean Labour Congress.
He visited London to lobby the British Colonial Office in favour of a Federation in 1931. A new constitution for Grenada was approved in 1935, adding additional elected representatives to the Legislative Council.
In 1951 the first election under full adult suffrage was held and Eric Gairy became the country’s first prime Minister. Marryshow retained his seat and was made Deputy President of the Legislative Council. In the Caribbean he became known as the “Father of the Federation.
(Marryshow is the Anglicised version of his surname which he adopted at an early stage)
Tubal Uriah Butler:
Tubal Uriah “Buzz” Butler (21 January 1897 – 20 February 1977), was a Grenadian-born Spiritual Baptist preacher and labour leader in Trinidad and Tobago. He is best known for leading a series of labour demonstrations between 19 June and 6 July 1937 and for forming a series of political parties (the British Empire Citizens’ and Workers’ Home Rule Party, the Butler Home Rule Party, and finally the Butler Party) that focused its platform on the improvement of the working class.
In 1918, he became active in political pressure groups and workers unions, establishing the Grenada Representative Government Movement, and the Grenada Union of Returned Soldiers. In 1921, aged 24, he went to south Trinidad and was employed at the Roodal Oilfields. He led a “hunger march” in 1935 from the oilfields to Port of Spain. In 1936 he formed the British Empire Citizens’ and Workers’ Home Rule Party. In 1939 he formed the Butler Home Rule Party, which later became the Butler Party. The Butler Party captured the largest block of seats in the Legislative Council, but the Governor chose to exclude Butler and instead Albert Gomes became the first chief minister. Butler is regarded as the founding father of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) and the labour movement.
Albert Gomes:
Albert Maria Gomes (25 March 1911 – 13 January 1978) was born in Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad. Gomes was a Trinidadian unionist, politician, and writer. He studied journalism at City College of New York between 1928 and 1930. Returning to Trinidad, Gomes established a literary magazine called The Beacon, the first of its kind in the country.
In 1938 he was elected to the Port of Spain City Council. He served on the Council for nine years and was Deputy Mayor for three years. In 1945, he was elected to the Legislative Council in a by-election. He was re-elected to the revamped Legislative Council in 1946 as a member of the West Indian National Party (WINP) for Port of Spain North. He retained that position until the 1956 General Elections when Eric Williams and the People’s National Movement (PNM)won.
He was the first Chief Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and the founder of the Political Progress Groups and later led the Party of Political Progress Groups. He was active in the formation of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) in Trinidad and Tobago. Gomes briefly led DLP in 1963.
THE ORIGINATORS OF THE TREATY OF CHAGUARAMAS
The Hon. Errol Barrow
Errol Walton Barrow PC QC (21 January 1920 – 1 June 1987) was a Barbadian statesman and the first prime minister of Barbados. In December 1961, his party won the general election with Barrow as its leader. He then served as Premier of Barbados from 1961 until 1966 when, after leading the country to independence from Great Britain, he became the island’s first Prime Minister.
Barrow was a dedicated proponent of regional integration, spearheading the foundation of the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) in 1965. Eight years later CARIFTA evolved into the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), when Barrow, together with Forbes Burnham of Guyana, Dr. Eric Williams of Trinidad and Tobago and Michael Manley of Jamaica enacted the Treaty of Chaguaramas to bolster political and economic relations between the English-speaking Caribbean territories
The Hon. Linden Forbes Burnham:
Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham OE (20 February 1923 – 6 August 1985) was a Guyanese leader of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana from 1964 until his death in 1985. He served as Premier of British Guiana from 1964 to 1966, Prime Minister of Guyana from 1964 to 1980 and then as the first executive president of Guyana (2nd president overall) from 1980 to 1985.
In 1965, Burnham along with Errol Barrow of Barbados, Eric Williams of Trinidad and Tobago and Michale Manley of Jamaica were the founders of the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA), which came into operation on 1 May 1968. CARIFTA was then superseded by CARICOM in 1973.
The Rt. Hon. Eric Williams
Eric Eustace Williams TC CH (25 September 1911 – 29 March 1981) was a Trinidad and Tobago politician. He led the then British Colony of Trinidad and Tobago to majority rule on 28 October 1956, to independence on 31 August 1962, and republic status on 1 August 1976.
Dr. Williams had for years advocated for the establishment of a Caribbean Economic Community, therefore after the signing of the initial CARIFTA Agreement (the Agreement of Dickenson Bay in Antigua) on December 15, 1965 between Barrow, Burnham and V. C. Bird, Williams joined the agreement thereby making it a region wide one.
The Hon Michael Manley
Michael Norman Manley ON OM OCC PC (10 December 1924 – 6 March 1997) was a Jamaican politician who served as the fourth prime minister of Jamaica from 1972 to 1980 and from 1989 to 1992. Manley championed a democratic socialist program, and has been described as a populist. He remains one of Jamaica’s most popular prime ministers.
As one of the founders of the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA), Manley’s vision for Caribbean integration was consistent with Caribbean liberation and suzerainty, intimately linked to the development of a more equitable and just society, consistent with the struggle against foreign exploitation of Caribbean resources, and independent foreign policy, free from the dictates of hemispheric political, economic and ideological hegemony.
SELECT VISIONARY ARCHITECTS OF CARIBBEAN INTEGRATION
Sir Shridath Ramphal
Sir Shridath Surendranath Ramphal GCMG AC ONZ OE OCC NIIV OM KC FRSA, (3 October 1928 – 30 August 2024) was a Guyanese politician who served a Cabinet Minister in the Guyana Government and also as Secretary-General of the Commonwealth for fifteen years – 1975 to 1990.
His involvement with the movement for a West Indies Federation as Assistant Attorney General marked the commencement of a distinctive record of advancing the process of Caribbean development. As Chairman of the West Indian Commission, he functioned as draughtsman for the reconstruction and development of Caribbean society. In spite of his high international standing and involvement in international affairs, he remains loyal and dedicated to the issues of development in his Caribbean homeland and provided yeoman service as Chancellor of the University of the West Indies and the University of Guyana. Sir Shridath received the honour of membership of the Order of the Caribbean Community in the first conferment of 1992.
Source: https://caricom.org/personalities/sir-shridath-ramphal/
Image source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2023/12/11/news/guyana/sir-shridath-offers-support-for-ali-maduro-talks/
The Most Hon. Percival Patterson
Percival Noel James Patterson, ON, OCC, KC (born 10 April 1935), served as the sixth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1992 to 2006.
P.J. Patterson began political activity at the UWI where he was one of the founders of the Political Club. As its President, he presided at the first political address given in the Caribbean by the late Dr. Eric Williams, founder of Trinidad and Tobago’s People’s National Movement. After graduating from the UWI he joined the PNP’s organising staff in 1958. He moved on to membership on the National and Executive Councils in 1964. He was elected a Vice-President of the PNP in 1969 and served as Party Chairman from 1983.
Mr. Patterson’s distinguished Cabinet career began in 1972, with his appointment as Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism. He also he served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (1978-1980); Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development, Planning and Production (1989-1990) and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Planning (1990-1991). Mr. Patterson served as Prime Minister until March 2006 when he retired.
Following his retirement from public office, Mr. Patterson has remained actively engaged in national, regional and global affairs. Among other things, he is Chairman of the International Advisory Board of the Caribbean Research & Policy Centre Inc. (CRPC), based in Washington DC, a think-tank dedicated to in-depth research and analyses for the positioning of CARICOM states on issues relating to international trade, development, the economy, society, politics, security and the environment.
In June 2020 he was appointed Statesman in Residence at the PJ Patterson Centre for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy at the University of the West Indies. In that capacity, Mr. Patterson is responsible for coordinating technical analysis for academic exchange and institutional collaboration in the areas of trade policy, cultural interaction, governance, climate change and other critical areas.
Sources:https://www.inafricara.com/pj-patterson/ and https://nlj.gov.jm/project/rt-hon-percival-james-patterson-1935/
Image source: https://nlj.gov.jm/project/rt-hon-percival-james-patterson-1935/)
The Hon. Lloyd Best
Lloyd Algernon Best, OCC (27 February 1934 – 19 March 2007) was an acclaimed Trinidadian intellectual, economist, politician and publicist.
Lloyd Best developed a close relationship with the University of the West Indies, beginning his illustrious multifaceted career as a Junior Research Fellow in 1958 at the Institute of Social and Economic Research of the UWI in Jamaica.
Known for his radical non-conventional philosophies, Lloyd Best was not the passive participant in the Region’s status quo, daring to disagree and advance cogent alternative viewpoints about the political, economic and intellectual realities of Caribbean society. This relationship solidified with his tenure at the St. Augustine Campus as a Lecturer in Economics. In the 1960s, he co-founded the New World Group of independent thinkers who theorised and philosophised about the economic, social and political systems of their time.
This intellectual giant of the Caribbean stimulated a rethinking of accepted models and practices in institutions of politics and economics and development as a whole, giving direction to the principles that support the establishment and continuity of the Caribbean integration movement.
Source: https://caricom.org/personalities/lloyd-algernon-best/
Image source: https://caricom.org/personalities/lloyd-algernon-best/
The Hon. William Demas
William Gilbert Demas, OCC, TC (14 November 1929 – 28 November 1998) was the first Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) from 1973 to 1974. He had previously been the Secretary-General of its predecessor, the Caribbean Free Trade Agreement (CARIFTA) from 1969 to 1973. He also served as President of the Caribbean Development Bank, Chancellor of the University of Guyana and Chairman of the CARICOM Inter-Governmental Ministerial Conference reviewing the function and structure of the University of the West Indies. He was an avid supporter and advocate of the Caribbean integration movement, charting its direction through his signal contributions to the regional economy and trade policy.
Source: https://caricom.org/secretaries_general/ambassador-hon-william-g-demas/
Image source: https://caricom.org/secretaries_general/ambassador-hon-william-g-demas/
Sir Alister McIntyre
Meredith Alister McIntyre (1930 – April 20, 2019) born in St. Georges, Grenada, served as CARICOM Secretary-General from 1974 to 1977. He was able to position the Caribbean region on the world scene and made a significant impact on the international arena through the many high-level posts he held in various UN organisations and in a consultative capacity to Regional and International Financial Institutions, such as the IDB and the World Bank.
Source: https://caricom.org/personalities/sir-meredith-alister-mcintyre/
Image source; https://caricom.org/personalities/sir-meredith-alister-mcintyre/
Sir Arthur Lewis
William Arthur Lewis (23 January 1915 – 15 June 1991) was a Saint Lucian economist and the James Madison Professor of Political Economy at Princeton University.[2] Lewis was known for his contributions in the field of economic development. In 1979, he was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He published a book, “The Theory of Economic Growth,” in 1954 that is regarded as the seminal study in the field.
He joined Princeton’s faculty in 1963 and retired 20 years later. At Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, he taught undergraduate and graduate courses in economic development and modern economic history. Lewis created two theoretical explanatory models designed to describe and explain the intrinsic problems of underdevelopment. The first model is based on the dual nature of a developing economy. Lewis’s other basic models relate to the determination of the terms of trade between developing and developed countries.
Sources: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1979/lewis/facts/
https://caricom.org/personalities/sir-arthur-lewis
Image source: https://caricom.org/personalities/sir-arthur-lewis/
The Hon. Rex Nettleford
Ralston Milton “Rex” Nettleford OM FIJ OCC (3 February 1933 – 2 February 2010) was a Jamaican scholar, social critic, choreographer, and Vice-Chancellor Emeritus of the University of the West Indies (UWI).
Nettleford’s intellectual brilliance and artistic creativity as a choreographer and dancer were recognized from his high school days. He left on scholarship to the then fledgling University College of the West Indies (London University) to read for a degree in history, he subsequently attended Oxford University as a post graduate Rhodes Scholar in politics. His choice of disciplines for study was quite deliberate since he had every intention of participating in the dismantling of the colonial regime extant.
On his return home, he was assigned to the UWI’s Extra Mural Department. This department provided Nettleford the perfect vehicle for linking town and gown at two levels: The first was as an academic, where it allowed him to hone in on matters that touched the lives of ordinary citizens. At a second level, it also facilitated engagement with the public, non-formally as well as non-traditionally. It was therefore not surprising that Rex Nettleford co-founded the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica (the NDTC), coinciding with the independence of his native land.
In 1975 Professor Nettleford was made a member of the Order of Merit – the highest non-political national honour of Jamaica. In 1996 he was selected to be Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies.
In the international arena, Nettleford has received some fourteen honourary degrees from universities including the University of Oxford whose Oriel College also made him one of its Fellows. He has served in various leadership capacities on numerous regional and international bodies including, CARICOM and the West Indian Commission, the IDRC, UNESCO, the ILO and the OAS. Nettleford has helped to shape and project the Region so profoundly, as a professor, a dancer, a writer, a manager, an orator, a mentor, a critic, an international icon, a true Ambassador of the Caribbean.
Source: https://caricom.org/personalities/prof-hon-ralston-rex-nettleford/
Image source: http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/
Sir George Alleyne
Sir George Alleyne, a native of Barbados dedicated the greater part of his career in Medicine and Health Care to uplifting the standard of public health for the benefit of its citizens and the overall process of Caribbean development. He holds a Doctorate in Medicine from the University of London.
He was appointed Professor of Medicine in the University of the West Indies (UWI) in 1972 and Chair of the Department of Medicine in 1976. He joined the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in 1981, became Assistant Director in 1990 and Director in 1995. In 2003 he was elected Director Emeritus. From February 2003 until December 2010, he served as the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean. From 2003 to 2017 he was Chancellor of the University of the West Indies and a visiting professor at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University. He is now Chancellor Emeritus.
In 2001, he was awarded the Order of the Caribbean Community, the highest honor that can be conferred on a Caribbean national.
Source: https://live.worldbank.org/en/experts/g/george-alleyne
Source: https://caricom.org/personalities/sir-george-alleyne/
Image source: https://caricom.org/personalities/sir-george-alleyne/
PRIME MINISTERIAL ARCHITECTS OF THE DREAM & REALIZATION OF CARIBBEAN DEVELOPMENT
The Hon. Norman Manley (Jamaica)
Norman Washington Manley ONH MM QC (4 July 1893 – 2 September 1969) served as Jamaica’s first and only Premier of Jamaica. Manley served as the country’s Chief Minister from 1955 to 1959, and as Premier from 1959 to 1962.
Image source: https://nlj.gov.jm/project/rt-hon-norman-washington-manley-1893-1969/)
The Hon. Edward Seaga
Edward Philip George Seaga ON (28 May 1930 – 28 May 2019) was the fifth Prime Minister of Jamaica, from 1980 to 1989. He also served as the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party from 1974 to 2005.
(Image source: https://jis.gov.jm/information/get-the-facts/edward-seaga-four-decades-distinguished-public-service/
The Hon. Patrick Manning (Trinidad and Tobago)
The Hon. Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning (17 August 1946 – 2 July 2016) was the fourth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago; his terms ran from 17 December 1991 to 9 November 1995 and from 24 December 2001 to 26 May 2010.
(Image source: www.trinidadexpress.com)
The Hon. Robert Bradshaw (St. Kitts-Nevis)
Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw (16 September 1916 – 23 May 1978) was the first Premier of Saint Kitts and Nevis from 27 February 1967 – 23 May 1978. Bradshaw also previously served as Chief Minister, legislator, and labour activist.
(Image source: www.wicnews.com)
The Hon. John Compton (St. Lucia)
John George Melvin Compton, KCMG PC (29 April 1925 – 7 September 2007) was Saint Lucia’s first prime minister upon the country’s gaining independence in February 1979. Having led Saint Lucia under British rule from 1964 to 1979, Compton served as prime minister three times: briefly in 1979, again from 1982 to 1996, and from 2006 until 2007.
(Image source: www.wikipedia.com)
The Rt. Hon. George Price (Belize)
George Cadle Price (15 January 1919 – 19 September 2011) served as the head of government of Belize from 1961 to 1984 and 1989 to 1993. He was the first minister and premier under British rule until independence in 1981 and was the nation’s first prime minister after independence that year.
(Image source: https://www.pup.bz/george-price/)
The Hon. Vere C. Bird (Antigua)
Vere Cornwall Bird, KNH (9 December 1909 – 28 June 1999) was the first Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. Bird was the country’s first and only Chief Minister (1 January 1960 to 27 February 1967), first and last Premier (from 27 February 1967 to 14 February 1971 and then again from 1 February 1976 to 1 November 1981), and first Prime Minister from 1981 to 1994.
(Image source: www.wikipedia.com)
The Hon. Dr. Kennedy A. Symmonds (St. Kitts and Nevis)
Kennedy Alphonse Simmonds, KCMG (born 12 April 1936) served as the first prime minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis from 1983 to 1995. He was also the Premier of Saint Kitts and Nevis from 21 February 1980 until the twin-island state gained independence on 19 September 1983.
(Image source: https://www.sknis.gov.kn/2021/08/12/former-st-kitts-nevis-prime-minister-sir-kennedy-simmonds-tribute-to-lester-bird/)
The Hon. Bruce Golding (Jamaica)
Orette Bruce Golding served as eighth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 11 September 2007 to 23 October 2011. He was elected as the youngest Member of Parliament in the 1972 general elections at 24 years old. In 1972 Bruce Golding was appointed a member of the Board of Governors of the Institute of Jamaica. On September 30, 1984 Bruce Golding was elected Chairman of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) after serving for over ten years as General Secretary. He tendered his resignation to the JLP on October 3 1995.
He was elected as the first president of the National Democratic Movement (NDM) on October 29, 1995. He tendered his resignation to the NDM in 2001 and re-entered the JLP In September 2002, after negotiations. Bruce Golding successfully contested the 2007 General Election as President of the JLP. He was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Jamaica, on September 11, 2007 and served in that position until October 2011.
Image Source: https://nlj.gov.jm/project/honourable-orette-bruce-golding-m-p-1947/
The Hon. James Mitchell (St. Vincent)
James Fitz-Allen Mitchell KCMG PC (15 May 1931 – 23 November 2021) served as the second Premier of Saint Vincent from 1972 to 1974, and the second Prime Minister from 1984 to 2000.
(Image source: https://bvi.gov.vg/media-centre/statement-premier-fahie-passing-sir-james-mitchell-former-prime-minister-saint-vincent)
The Hon. William Bramble (Montserrat)
William Henry Bramble (October 8, 1901 – October 17, 1988) was Montserrat’s first Chief Minister, serving from January 1960 to December 1970.
(Image source: https://www.facebook.com/montserratradioecho/posts/ 314695147 5552023/)
REGIONAL INTEGRATION TECHNOCRATS
Sir Hilary Beckles
Hilary McDonald Beckles KA (born 11 August 1955) is a Barbadian historian. He is the current Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission. Before assuming the office of Vice Chancellor of UWI on May 1, 2015, Professor Beckles was Principal and Pro-Vice Chancellor of UWI’s Cave Hill Campus in Barbados from 2002 – 2015. Sir Hilary is a distinguished university administrator, economic historian and specialist in higher education and development thinking and practice; and an internationally reputed historian. He is the principal author of The Brain Train: Tertiary Education Thinking and Planning in the Caribbean.
Source: https://www.uwi.edu/BFUWI/profile/prof-sir-hilary-beckles
Image Source: https://www.uwi.edu/vcbiography.php
Sir Edwin Carrington
Edwin Wilberforce Carrington, TC, CM, KCN, CHB, OCC is the former Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), serving from 1992 to 2010. Carrington joined the CARIFTA Secretariat, as CARICOM was then called, advancing to the position of Director of the Trade and Integration Division. In 1975, Carrington served as the CARICOM representative during negotiations for the Lomé Convention. From 1985 to 1990, Carrington served as Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), previously serving as Deputy Secretary-General from 1977. He became the Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community in August 1992 serving until December 2010. This tenure marks him as the longest serving Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community. Carrington is a member of Washington D.C. based think tank the Inter-American Dialogue. He currently serves as the Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago to the Caribbean Community.
Source: https://caricom.org/secretaries_general/ambassador-hon-edwin-w-carrington/
Image: www.wikipedia.org
Professor Compton Bourne
Professor Compton Bourne is the former President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) 2001 – 2011 and is a former Principal of the St. Augustine Campus of The University of the West Indies – 1996-2001; as well as a former Executive Director of the Caribbean Centre for Money and Finance.
A respected economist, and a Professor Emeritus of Economics of the University of the West Indies. His career spans the worlds of academia, public policy and institutional management. Professor Bourne has been an active contributor to public economic policy in the Caribbean, Africa and the Philippines since 1975. He is the author or editor of 10 books and more than 50 scholarly papers in addition to more than 50 research reports and advisory memoranda for Caribbean Governments, foreign governments and international development institutions and agencies. He is a Member of the Order of Excellence, the highest honour of the Republic of Guyana, and is a recipient of numerous awards for his outstanding contribution to the development of the Caribbean.
Source: https://ansacaribbeanawards.com/prof-compton-bourne/
https://sta.uwi.edu/conferences/12/cote/FeatureSpeaker-ProfBourne.asp
Image Source: https://ansacaribbeanawards.com/prof-compton-bourne/
The Hon. Roderick Rainford
Roderick Rainford came to the CARICOM integration process from his position in the Ministry of Trade and Industry as Deputy Secretary-General to Dr. Kurleigh King in September 1983. From that particular vantage point of Deputy Secretary-General, he understood the nature and intricacies of the problems affecting the Community and the challenges of the Secretariat. When Secretary-General Rainford took over the mantle at the beginning of September 1983 he was well prepared for the position. He held the integration period through perhaps its most turbulent political and economic period. He believed in a Caribbean that is integrated and prosperous. In particular, his was a vision at the centre of which the Community would have moved beyond trade expansion to realise the possibility of co-ordinated and integrated development of resources for the purpose of accommodating the needs of the peoples of the Caribbean community in a more rational manner.
Source: https://caricom.org/secretaries_general/ambassador-mr-roderick-rainford/
Image: https://caricom.org/secretaries_general/ambassador-mr-roderick-rainford/
Brynmore Pollard
Brynmore Thornton Inniss Pollard SC, CCH, OR was a Guyanese legal luminary who made outstanding contributions in the field of law at the national, regional and international levels.
After reading for the Bar in London, Pollard was called to the Bar before serving in the Attorney-General’s Chambers under the then Attorney-General, Sir Shridath Ramphal. He was then he was appointed as the Chief Parliamentary Counsel and served as an expert authority on legislative drafting, constitutional and public law, and related matters.
In 1979 he was engaged by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation and seconded to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) as General Counsel. Pollard also held several other distinguished posts including that of Vice-Chairman of the Juridical Committee of the Organisation of American States (OAS) from 2000 to 2002 and a member of the Judicial Service Committee of Guyana. He demitted the last office in 2010.
Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2020/01/26/news/guyana/bryn-pollard-passes-away-at-92/
Image source: https://guyanasecuritiescouncil.com/boardmembers.html
Ambassador Byron Blake
Ambassador Byron Blake is former deputy permanent representative to the United Nations and former assistant secretary general of CARICOM. Byron Blake is an Economist with over thirty-five years of experience, working at different levels in institution building, policy development and promotion, planning, program and project development and promotion in the Caribbean Community Ambassador Blake has developed projects and programs in agriculture; industry services including tourism, maritime and air transportation; energy; technology, and the environment.
Ambassador Blake has experience serving on several Public and Private Sector Board among these he serves as the Chairman of the Board and Co-Founder, Vihara Foundation and the CARICOM Chair for the redevelopment of Haiti.
Source: https://viharafoundation.org/board-of-trustees/ and https://www.rockagainstpoverty.com/blake-profile
Image Source: https://jamaica-gleaner.com
Professor Roy Augier
Fitzroy Richard Augier is a distinguished Caribbean historian and professor emeritus of The University of the West Indies.
Professor Augier joined the History Department at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus as a lecturer in 1955, and was promoted to Senior Lecturer ten years later. In 1989 he attained Professorship and later Professor Emeritus in 1995. Professor Augier also served as Dean, Faculty of Arts and General Studies at UWI from 1967 to 72 and Pro Vice Chancellor, UWI 1972 to 1990.
As a historian, Augier co-authored several key texts in Caribbean history, including The Making of the West Indies (1960), which revolutionized the teaching and studying of history in the region; and The Report on the Rastafarian Movement (1961), and Sources of West Indian History (1962).
Augier is perhaps best known for his foundational role in the establishment of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC). He convened the first Caribbean History Subject Panel, which created the syllabus for the inaugural Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exam in 1979. From 1986 to 1996, he served as CXC chairman and was instrumental in the creation of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE), which replaced the Cambridge A-Levels.
Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2024/12/22/news/regional/jamaica/mr-cxc-sir-roy-augier-turns-100/
Source: https://www.cxc.org/person/sir-roy-augier/
Image Source: https://jamaica-gleaner.com
Archibald Moore
Archibald Moore was the Officer within CARICOM responsible for initiating the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC).
Following a meeting of the Ministers of Education of Commonwealth Caribbean countries and university representatives, in 1969, Archibald Moore, (then) Superintendent of Examinations, Ministry of Education, Guyana, assumed duty at the Regional Secretariat (on 2 March, 1970) to undertake preparatory work in connection with the establishment of the Caribbean Examinations Council.
Moore prepared two working papers which were circulated to regional Governments during the month of March, 1970. He then visited some of the Territories (Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Jamaica) to discuss with education officials the implications of the two papers.
CXC was an agenda item at the Sixth Heads of Government Conference, held in Jamaica in April, 1970. One resolution which was passed at the meeting was the establishment of an Education Desk at the Regional Secretariat, tasked with the responsibility for the activities connected with the establishment of the Examinations Council
The desk was established in July 1970 and Moore took up the position as Education Adviser.
Source: https://www.cxc.org/SiteAssets/Examiners/CXC40thexaminerJune2013.pdf
Source; https://www.stabroeknews.com/2013/07/24/guyana-review/archibald-moore-a-cxc-architect/
Image Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2013/07/24/guyana-review/archibald-moore-a-cxc-architect/
Professor Gladstone Mills
Gladstone Mills OJ OD (12 February 1920 – 26 September 2004) was a Jamaican academic and public servant.
Professor Mills taught for many years at the Mona, Jamaica, campus of the University of the West Indies. He was a senior lecturer from 1960 to 1965, a full professor from 1965 to 1990, and a professor emeritus for the remainder of his life. During his time with UWI, he also served as head of the school’s Department of Government from 1963 to 1980, and as dean of its Faculty of Social Sciences from 1967 to 1970. Under Mills, the university introduced its bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and doctoral programmes in the field of public administration
In 1973 Mills was appointed as the first chairman of Jamaica’s Electoral Advisory Committee (EAC), a position that he held until 1979. In 1975, Mills was honoured with the Order of Distinction in recognition of his “services in the field of Education and Public Administration”. In 1989, his work in these areas was further recognised with the Order of Jamaica
In 1994 Mills published his autobiography, Grist for the Mills: Reflections on a Life.
Source: www.wikipedia.com
Source; https://www.mona.uwi.edu/marcom/newsroom/entry/2879
VISIONARY INTELLECTUALS ON ALL DIMESIONS OF CARIBBEAN REGIONAL INTEGRATION
Professor Duke Pollard
Duke E.E. Pollard (1936-2022) was one of the architects of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and was among the first set of judges at the CCJ that was established in 2001.
From 1970 to 1974, Justice Pollard served as Minister-Counsellor in the Guyana Permanent Mission to the United Nations. From 1972-1974, he was Legal Advisor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guyana and acted as Permanent Secretary in that ministry. Justice Pollard was also Legal Advisor to the International Bauxite Association from 1974 to 1982, and, as of 1984, consultant on diverse international law projects for the United Nations, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Caribbean Law Institute and the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Secretariat.
His career within the Caricom Secretariat included the post of Officer-in-Charge, Legal & Institutional Development Division (1996-2002) and Director of the Caricom Legislative Drafting Facility (2003 to 2005), before his elevation to the Bench of the Caribbean Court of Justice (2005-2010). He also served as Professor in the Law Department of the University of Guyana after
Apart from holding representational posts in numerous and varied international conferences, Justice Pollard wrote widely on a variety of aspects of international law and participated in the drafting of many important Caricom instruments, including the original and revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and many of the agreements and protocols that pertain specifically to the Caribbean Court of Justice. He has authored a significant body of studies, articles, monographs, and draft treaties and legislation, constituting an impressive composition of reference material.
Source: https://ccj.org/about-the-ccj/judges/past-judge-%E2%80%93-the-hon-mr-justice-duke-pollard/
Source: https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20220913/former-ccj-judge-duke-pollard-dies
Image source: https://ccj.org/about-the-ccj/judges/past-judge-%E2%80%93-the-hon-mr-justice-duke-pollard/
Professor Elsa Gouveia
Elsa Vesta Gouveia (1925-1980) was an iconic Guyanese historian. She was the first woman to become a professor at the newly created University College of the West Indies (UCWI) and first professor of West Indian studies in the UCWI History Department. Gouveia was one of the pioneers of historical research on slavery and the Caribbean and is considered a “premier social historian” from the 1960s to her passing.
Gouveia’s thesis ‘Slave Society in the British Leeward Islands 1780-1800’, which was a groundbreaking study of the institution of slavery and the first to put forth the concept of a “slave society” encompassing not just the slaves but the entire community, earned her a PhD in 1952.
Also, in 1952 at the request of the Pan-American Institute of Geography and History, Gouveia undertook what would become one of her most important works, Study on the Historiography of the British West Indies. The study has been called one of the two seminal works on historiography published in the 1960s
In 1958, Gouveia was made a Senior Lecturer and then in 1961 was appointed as a professor in West Indian History. The appointment was historic, as she simultaneously became the first (and only) female professor at UCWI, as well as the first Caribbean-born professor of West Indian History
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsa_Goveia
Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsa_Goveia
Professor Gordon Rohlehr
Gordon Rohlehr, (1942-2023) Professor Emeritus at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, and Trinidad was born in Guyana. He graduated in 1964 from the University College of the West Indies, Jamaica, with a First-Class Honours degree in English Literature, after which he wrote a doctoral dissertation entitled Alienation and Commitment in the Works of Joseph Conrad at Birmingham University, England (1964-1967).
Rohlehr had also been a visiting Professor to Harvard (Sept-Dec 1981); the Johns Hopkins University (Sept-Dec 1985); Tulane University (Jan-May 1997); Stephen F. Austin State University (Jan-May 2000); Miami University Writers’ Workshop (June-July 1995); York University Toronto (January-Feb 1996) and Dartmouth College, New Hampshire (June-August, 2004).
Rohlehr has established an international reputation for his ground-breaking work on Caribbean literature, calypso and culture, is the world’s leading authority on calypso, tracing its development over the last two hundred years from its West African origins and studying the vast amount of recorded material produced by generations of West Indians, particularly in Trinidad and Tobago.
His academic interest and research have resulted in the production of an extensive written opus on West Indian literature, oral poetry, calypso and the popular culture of the Caribbean and in particular between 1968 and 2004, he wrote more than 100 essays on these topics, held over three hundred interviews, prepared and participated in nearly 100 radio and television programmes, and lectured extensively throughout the Caribbean, US, Canada, and the UK. He has been the recipient of the University of the West Indies’ Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in the combined fields of Teaching, Research, Administration and Public Service (1995).
Gordon Rohlehr, through his scholarship and personal example is an exemplar of the best of the distinct West Indian cultural identity.
Source: https://integrationist.in2ition.media/professor-gordon-rohlehr/
Image Source: https://global.uwi.edu/media/news/uwi-mourns-passing-professor-emeritus-gordon-rohlehr
Professor Denis Benn
Denis Benn is the Michael Manley Professor of Public Policy at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Jamaica. He has written about the challenges the Caribbean faces, and is considered an expert on the Caribbean economy. He also served as the Cyrus Vance Professor of International Relations at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts.
Professor Benn has written a book on the theory of the plantation economy, which some say is one of the most important economic texts ever written about the Caribbean.
In 2015, seventy years after The Moyne Report was public the report is re-presented with an updated introduction by Professor Denis Benn, who ably contextualizes the findings informed not only by his scholarly work but also as a witness to the many labour disputes and agitation for better working and living conditions for the poor and working-class citizens of the region.
Source: https://www.mona.uwi.edu/marcom/uwinotebook/entry/1416
Professor Vaughn Lewis
Vaughan Allen Lewis, KCSL CBE, a native of St Lucia, is Professor Emeritus of the University of the West Indies (UWI). He also served as Professor the International Relations of the Caribbean at the Institute of International Relations of the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, Trinidad & Tobago.
Over an academic career commencing in 1963, he served as Deputy Director of the Institute of Social & Economic Research , UWI, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, and then as University Director of the Institute (now Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies) at its Mona, Jamaica Campus. Dr Lewis also taught political theory and international relations in the Department of Government, UWI, Mona and also at the Universities of Wales (Swansea), Liverpool, Florida International University and the University of Florida (Gainesville). Between these activities he served from 1982 to 1995 as the founding Director General of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.
Dr Lewis has written widely on the areas of Third World International Relations, Caribbean international relations and regional integration and Caribbean-Hemispheric relations, and on United States-Caribbean Relations. A significant focus of his work has been on issues relating to the functioning of small states in these environments and in international relations generally.
He was a member of the West Indian Commission chaired by Sir Shridath Ramphal, which produced the report Time for Action (1992), and Chairman of the Technical Working Group on the Governance of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) established by the Caricom Heads of Government which produced the report Managing Mature Regionalism (2006).
Between April 1996 and May 1997, Dr Lewis served as Member of Parliament for the constituency of Castries Central, and Prime Minister of St Lucia.
Source: https://sdgswhoswho.org/listing/vaughan-lewis/
Image Source: https://pressroom.oecs.int/the-oecs-founders-tv-series-sir-vaughan-lewis
Professor Havelock Brewster
Havelock R. Brewster, CCH, Hon LLD (1937-2023)was a national of Guyana and Jamaica; he spent most of his career in international institutions and government service. Professor Brewster served as Consultant to the Caribbean Development Bank; Hon. Professor of Economics at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, UWI, and Senior Associate of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery.
Among his other posts Professor Brewster served as Special Research Adviser and Director of the Commodities Trade Division of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Geneva’; as Guyana’s Ambassador to the European Union, Austria, Belgium, and Germany and at one time the Executive Director for the Caribbean at the Inter-American Development Bank
Professor Brewster is well known for his seminal monograph with Clive Thomas entitled The Dynamics of West Indian Integration (ISER,UWI, 1967) which outlined the basic theoretical and empirical principles for using economic integration as a strategy for the development of the small economies in the Caribbean region
His work has been heralded across the region and he has been described as one of the great Caribbean economists who made a valuable and lasting contribution to the economic theory and policy landscape of the Caribbean with over 100 publications on employment and wages, economic integration, international trade in commodities and economic development policy
In 1993 Brewster was awarded Guyana’s Cacique’s Crown of Honor (CCH) and in 2008 he was awarded the Degree of Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa, of the University of the West Indies.
Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2023/05/31/news/guyana/economist-havelock-brewster-dead-at-86/
Image Source: https://www.mona.uwi.edu/economics/sites/default/files/economics/uploads/Newsletter%20V10 %20 % 28 1%29.pdf
Professor Clive Thomas
Clive Youlande Thomas (born 6 February 1938) is a Guyanese economics professor and political activist. He publishes on issues relating to development and poverty eradication in Guyana and the greater Caribbean region.
Clive Thomas was a Distinguished Professor of Economics and Director of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Guyana. He has held Visiting Professorships in Africa (University of Dar-es Salaam), Canada (Visiting Distinguished Professor at the Norman Patterson School of International Relations), United States (Leonard O’Connor Professor, Colgate University), and the West Indies (George Beckford Professor in Political Economy).
He has authored/co-authored 28 books/research monographs (including: The Concerns of Small States in the Global Trade Regime: Making Global Trade Work For People, UNDP, 2005. Poverty and the 1999 Guyana Survey of Living Conditions, UNDP, 2000. Guyana: Human Development Report, 1996, UNDP, 1997. The Poor and the Powerless: Economic Policy and Change in the Caribbean, Latin American Bureau and Monthly Review Press, London/New York, 1988. Sugar: Threat or Challenge (An Assessment of the Impact of Technological Developments in High Fructose Syrups and Sucro-chemicals), IDRC, Ottawa, 1985 (This has been translated into French (1986) and Spanish (1987) editions). The Rise of the Authoritarian State in Peripheral Societies, Heinemann and Monthly Review Press, London/New York, 1984. Plantations, Peasants and State (A Study of the Modes of Sugar Production), University of California at Los Angeles (CAAS) and ISER, University of the West Indies, 1984. Dependence and Transformation, Monthly Review Press, London/New York, 1974. The Dynamics of West Indian Economic Integration (with Havelock Brewster), University of the West Indies, Jamaica, 1967.
He has also published over 154 academic articles and contributions to books/research monographs and presented invited papers to a similar number of academic conferences, symposia, and seminars.
His major fields of research interests and publications include: Development Economics, with special emphasis on the following areas: growth, trade, finance, agriculture (sugar), environment, natural resources (gold, bauxite, forestry) institutional development, and political economy. Social Sector Economics, with special emphasis on social policy; poverty analysis and eradication measures; labour; community-based organisations; non-governmental organisations and civil society; health; and education. International Development and Trade Policy, with special emphasis on globalisation, international crises, regional cooperation and North-South trade arrangements with special reference to the Caribbean region and the EPA. Macroeconomics and Finance, with applications to small open economies. Problems of Size: Small and Micro-economies. Global Environmental Policy Issues, with emphasis on global negotiations; carbon credit markets and the financial securitization of “nature”; and low-carbon development strategies (Guyana’s LCDS).
Academic Awards include: Cacique Crown of Honour for Contributions to Education, Government of Guyana National Awards Scheme 1994 George Beckford Award for Contributions to Caribbean Economy, Association of Caribbean Economists, 2001 Honorary Professor, Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, 2004
Honoree: 41st Regional Monetary Studies, Trinidad and Tobago, November 2010
Source: https://integrationist.in2ition.media/dr-clive-thomas/
Image source https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2022/03/26/guyana-has-limited-time-to-exploit-and-develop-from-oil-resources-professor-clive-thomas-warns/