Cheddi Berret Jagan (22 March 1918 – 6 March 1997) was a Guyanese politician and dentist who was first elected Chief Minister in 1953 and later Premier of

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was ...

from 1961 to 1964. He later served as

President of Guyana The president of Guyana is the head of state and the head of government of Guyana, as well as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Republic, according to the Constitution of Guyana. The president is also the chancellor of the Or ...

from 1992 to his death in 1997. Jagan is widely regarded in Guyana as the ''

Father of the Nation The Father of the Nation is an honorific title given to a person considered the driving force behind the establishment of a country, state, or nation. (plural ), also seen as , was a Roman honorific meaning the "Father of the Fatherland", best ...

''.Larry Rohter
"Cheddi Jagan, Guyana's Founder, Dies at 78"
''The New York Times'', 7 March 1997. In 1953, he became the first Hindu and person of Indian descent to be a head of government outside of the Indian subcontinent.

Early life

Cheddi Berret (Bharat) Jagan was born on 22 March 1918 in Ankerville,

Port Mourant Port Mourant is a town on the Atlantic coast in East Berbice-Corentyne, Guyana. It is the birthplace of the late president Cheddi Jagan as well as many of Guyana's most famous cricketers. Port Mourant was originally a sugar estate. Many residents ...

, a rural village in the county of

Berbice Berbice is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1792 a colony of the Dutch West India Company and between 1792 to 1815 a colony of the Dutch state. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom of Great Britain ...

(present-day

East Berbice-Corentyne East Berbice-Corentyne (Region 6) is one of ten regions in Guyana covering the whole of the east of the country. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the north, the Nickerie District and Sipaliwini District of Suriname to the east, Brazil to the so ...

). He was the eldest of 11 children. His parents were

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

s who were

Kurmi Kurmi is traditionally a non-elite tiller caste in the lower Gangetic plain of India, especially southern regions of Awadh, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar. The Kurmis came to be known for their exceptional work ethic, superior ti ...

Hindus that emigrated from

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

indentured labourers Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an "indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensation or debt repayment, ...

. They were both from the

Basti district Basti district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh state, India, and a part of Basti Division. Basti city is the district headquarters. Origin of name and history Basti was originally known as Vaishishthi. The origin of the name Vaishi ...

in the then

North-Western Provinces The North-Western Provinces was an Presidencies and provinces of British India, administrative region in British India. The North-Western Provinces were established in 1836, through merging the administrative divisions of the Ceded and Conquere ...

in the

Awadh Awadh (), known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a region in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It is synonymous with the Kośāla region of ...

and

Bhojpuri region The Bhojpuri region or Bhojpur is an area encompassing parts of the Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand, and the Madhesh, Gandaki and Lumbini provinces of Nepal, where the Bhojpuri language is spoken as a mother tongue. Hi ...

s of the Hindi Belt in North India (in present-day Uttar Pradesh, India). His mother Bachaoni came to British Guiana as a child with her mother, while his father Jagan also came as a child with his mother and brother. Both his mother's and father's family immigrated to British Guiana aboard the ''Elbe'' in 1901; his father being 2 years old and his mother 18 months when they arrived. His father's family were indentured to Albion Estate and his mother's family was indentured to Port Mourant Estate.https://jagan.org/Biography/CJ%20Bio/cj_biography3.html The Jagan family lived in rural poverty, working in the cane fields to support themselves. His mother had worked on the estate till Jagan was nine years old. His father had worked his way up to become head driver on the estate, but it didn't amount to much change in pay, and he had to retire at fifty due to his health. When Jagan was fifteen years old, his father sent him to Queen's College in the capital city of Georgetown (about away) for the next three years. In Georgetown, Jagan saw life differently, as he came from a different background than that of his schoolmates. After he graduated from high school, Jagan realized that finding a non-

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

job would be impossible. Finally, his father sent him to the United States to study dentistry with $500, the family's life savings.

Education and early career

Jagan left for the United States in September 1936 with two friends, and did not return to British Guiana until October 1943. He lived in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

for two years, enrolled in a pre-dental course at Howard University. To cover his expenses, Jagan took a job as an elevator operator. During the summers, he worked in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...

as a door-to-door salesman. Jagan's performance helped him to win a scholarship for his second year at Howard. In 1938, he was admitted to the four-year dental program at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Political career

Early political career

Jagan co-founded the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) in 1946, and was subsequently elected to the Legislative Council in November 1947 as an independent candidate from Central Demerara constituency. On 1 January 1950, the People's Progressive Party (PPP) was founded by a merger of the PAC and the

British Guiana Labour Party The British Guiana Labour Party (BGCP) was a political party in British Guiana. History The BGCP was formed in June 1946, with its leadership included Jung Bahadur Singh, J.A. Nicholson, Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow and Ashton Chase Ashton may ...

(BGLP), with Jagan as its leader, former BGLP leader Forbes Burnham as its chairman and Jagan's wife Janet as secretary.History of the PPP
PPP website.

Head of State of Guyana

Jagan won

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

in 1953. However, Winston Churchill expressed alarm creating baseless fears that Jagan was a Marxist-Leninist, and also claimed Jagan could allow the Soviet Union a foothold in South America. In fact, there is no evidence whatsoever that Jagan had any ties to any foreign communist or revolutionary groups. But still, the fears prompted a British military intervention only days after his victory. Jagan resigned as Chief Minister after 133 days. Britain suspended the constitution and installed an interim government. Jagan's movements were restricted to Georgetown from 1954 to 1957. After a PPP victory in the August 1961 elections, Jagan became Chief Minister for a second time, serving for three years. In the December 1964 elections, the PPP won a plurality of votes, but Burnham's party, the People's National Congress, and the conservative United Force held a majority of seats and were invited to form the government. However, Jagan refused to resign, and had to be removed by Governor

Richard Luyt Sir Richard Edmonds Luyt (8 November 1915 – 12 February 1994) was the colonial Governor of British Guiana in 1964–66. He installed Forbes Burnham of the People's National Congress (PNC) as premier of a coalition government with a small bu ...

. Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p355 Having broken off links with Burnham, Jagan was active in the government as a labour activist and leader of the opposition. He was elected as

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

and Minority Leader 1966-1973 and 1976-1992.Historical information events and dates on the Parliament of Guyana from 1718 to 2009
Parliament of Guyana After 28 years in opposition, the PPP won the 5 October 1992 elections with about 54% of the vote, and Jagan became President. Contrary to earlier foreign fears, he governed as a

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...

and not a Marxist–Leninist.

Personal life

After graduating from dental school in 1942, Jagan met Janet Rosenberg, a student nurse. They married in 1943, and had two children: Nadira and Cheddi Jr. (who in turn produced five grandchildren). Janet Jagan followed her husband's footsteps and held the positions of prime minister and president in 1997 (succeeded as president by

Bharrat Jagdeo Bharrat Jagdeo (born 23 January 1964) is a Guyana, Guyanese politician who has been serving as Vice President of Guyana since 2020, in the administration of President of Guyana, President Irfaan Ali. He had previously also held the office from 19 ...

in 1999).

Death and legacy

Jagan suffered a heart attack on 15 February 1997 and was taken to Georgetown Hospital before being flown by U.S. military aircraft then by U.S. Air Force helicopter from Andrews Air Force Base"In the Americas", ''The Miami Herald'' (nl.newsbank.com), 16 February 1997. to

Walter Reed Army Hospital The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC)known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951was the U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on in the District of Columbia, it served more than 150,000 active and ret ...

, later that day. He underwent heart surgery there and died in Washington on 6 March 1997, 16 days before his 79th birthday. Prime Minister

Sam Hinds Samuel Archibald Anthony Hinds (born 27 December 1943) is a Guyanese politician who was Prime Minister of Guyana almost continuously from 1992 to 2015. He also briefly served as President of Guyana in 1997. He was awarded Guyana's highest nat ...

succeeded him as President and declared six days of mourning, describing Jagan as the "greatest son and patriot that has ever walked this land". The Cheddi Jagan Research Centre in Georgetown celebrates his life and work, complete with a replication of his office. The centre is located in the Red House which served as Jagan's official residence from 1961 to 1964. The

Cheddi Jagan International Airport Cheddi Jagan International Airport , formerly Timehri International Airport, is the primary airport of Guyana. The airport is located on the right bank of the Demerara River in the city of Timehri, south of Guyana's capital, Georgetown. It is ...

, the largest and primary international airport of the country, has been renamed after Jagan.

Selected publications

Jagan was also an important political author and speechwriter, and his publications include: * ''Forbidden Freedom: The Story of British Guiana'' (Hansib, 1954) * ''The West On Trial: My Fight for Guyana's Freedom'' (Harpy, 1966) * ''The Caribbean Revolution'' (1979) * ''The Caribbean: Whose Backyard?'' (1984) * ''Selected Speeches 1992–1994'' (Hansib, 1995) * ''The USA in South America'' (Hansib, 1998) * ''A New Global Human Order'' (Harpy, 1999) * ''Selected Correspondences 1953–1965'' (Dido Press, 2004)

References

External links

Cheddi Jagan Research Centre
an informational site maintained by Jagan's daughter, Nadira Jagan-Brancier.

at

marxists.org Marxists Internet Archive (also known as MIA or Marxists.org) is a non-profit online encyclopedia that hosts a multilingual library (created in 1990) of the works of communist, anarchist, and socialist writers, such as Karl Marx, Friedrich Engel ...

Cheddi Jagan Timeline
Posted at Center for Cooperative Research
"An Appreciation of Dr. Cheddi Jagan"
Indo Caribbean World, 12 March 1997. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jagan, Cheddi 1918 births 1997 deaths Alumni of Queen's College, Guyana Guyanese democracy activists Guyanese Hindus Howard University alumni Indo-Guyanese people Leaders of political parties People's Progressive Party (Guyana) politicians Guyanese politicians of Indian descent Presidents of Guyana Foreign ministers of Guyana Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo People from East Berbice-Corentyne Northwestern University Dental School alumni