Captain Arthur Andrew Cipriani (31 January 1875 – 18 April 1945"Capt Arthur Andrew 'Tatoo' Cipriani", Find A Grave.
/ref>) was a

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

labour leader The ''Labour Leader'' was a British socialist newspaper published for almost one hundred years. It was later renamed ''New Leader'' and ''Socialist Leader'', before finally taking the name ''Labour Leader'' again. 19th century The origins of th ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He served as mayor of

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

, elected member of the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

, leader of the Trinidad Workingmen's Association (TWA) and founder of the

Trinidad Labour Party The Trinidad Labour Party was a political party in Trinidad and Tobago. Formed in 1934 when the Trinidad Workingmen's Association changed its name, it was the country's first party. History The party was originally a trade union named the Trinid ...

Early life

Arthur Andrew Cipriani was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1875 one of three sons of Albert Henry Cipriani, a planter from Santa Cruz. The Cipriani family were a

White Trinidadian White Trinidadians and Tobagonians (sometimes referred as Euro-Trinidadians and Tobagonians or local-whites) are Trinidadians and Tobagonians of European descent. However, while the term "White Trinidadian and Tobagonian" is used to refer collect ...

family of Corsican descent. In his biography, author and historian

C. L. R. James Cyril Lionel Robert James (4 January 1901 – 31 May 1989), Fraser, C. Gerald (2 June 1989)"C. L. R. James, Historian, Critic And Pan-Africanist, Is Dead at 88" ''The New York Times''. . who sometimes wrote under the pen-name J. R. Johnson ...

describes the Cipriani family as "closely related" to the

Bonaparte family The House of Bonaparte (originally ''Buonaparte'') is a former imperial and royal European dynasty of French and Italian origin. It was founded in 1804 by Napoleon I, the son of Corsican nobleman Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Buonaparte (née ...

. Cipriani's father died when he was very young, and after the death of his mother from

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

when he was six, he was raised by his paternal aunt. He attended St. Mary's College in Port of Spain between the ages of seven and 16. After leaving school, Cipriani tuned down the opportunity to train as a veterinarian. Instead, he chose to work as a jockey and racehorse trainer, and was elected secretary of the Trinidad Breeders' Association. In addition, he worked on the cocoa estates belonging to relatives and family friends.

World War I

He was involved with recruiting soldiers at the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and was subsequently made a captain with the

British West Indies Regiment The British West Indies Regiment (1915 - 1921) (BWIR) was a unit of the British Army during the First World War, formed of volunteers from British colonies in the West Indies. The regiment was fifteen thousand strong, with two hundred and sixty ...

, leaving for the front in 1917.Biography of Arthur Andrew Cipriani (1875-1945), NALIS, Trinidad and Tobago.

Post-war

Impressed by how the West Indians adapted to the business of modern war, he concluded that the West Indian people were capable of doing their own self-government. On his return to Trinidad, he became a leader not just to the ex-soldiers but to labourers as well, his followers being both working-class Afro-Trinidadians and Indi-Trinidadians. In 1919, he was elected President of the Soldiers and Sailors Union, an organization that promoted the interests of the ex-servicemen. He also joined the Trinidad Workingmen's Association (TWA), of which he became president in 1923. Under his leadership, the TWA increased its membership and political influence, becoming the main organization through which workers' grievances were articulated.

Elected office

From 1926 to 1941, Cipriani was a Port of Spain City Councillor and was elected Mayor on eight occasions. In 1925, he was elected as a representative to the Trinidad and Tobago Legislative Council and served as a member for Port of Spain until his death in 1945. In 1934, Cipriani helped to rename the TWA as the

Later life and legacy

He died on 18 April 1945 and was buried in Lapeyrouse Cemetery, Port of Spain.

wrote ''The Life of Captain Cipriani: An Account of British Government in the West Indies'', which was published in 1932 with financial assistance of the Trinidadian cricket player

Learie Constantine Learie Nicholas Constantine, Baron Constantine (21 September 19011 July 1971) was a Trinidadian cricketer, lawyer and politician who served as Trinidad and Tobago's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and became the UK's first black peer ...

. An abridged version was published as ''The Case for West Indian Self-Government'' by

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English language, English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek wikt:Λέων#Greek, Λ ...

and

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

Hogarth Press The Hogarth Press is a book publishing Imprint (trade name), imprint of Penguin Random House that was founded as an independent company in 1917 by British authors Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf. It was named after their house in London Boro ...

in 1933. A statue in memory of Cipriani was unveiled on 17 April 1959 in Port of Spain by

Eric Williams Eric Eustace Williams (25 September 1911 – 29 March 1981) was a Trinidad and Tobago politician. He has been dubbed as the " Father of the Nation", having led the then-British Colony of Trinidad and Tobago to majority rule on 28 October 1956, ...

, who declared on the occasion: “Captain Cipriani is the pioneer of the nationalist movement of Trinidad and Tobago. With the unveiling of this statue we commemorate our own historical development, our own positive action, our own native history made by native hands, and the aspiration of our native peoples.” The

Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies The Cipriani College of Labour and Cooperative Studies (CCLCS) is a public university located in Trinidad and Tobago. The CCLCS was established in 1966 and its main campus is located in Valsayn but there are satellite locations in San Fernando ...

is named after him.

References

External links

Biography of Arthur Andrew Cipriani (1875-1945)
NALIS, Trinidad and Tobago.
"Cap't Andrew Arthur Cipriani, Soldier"
''LimeLight Magazine''.
Genealogy of "Arthur Andrew 'Tattoo' Cipriani, Captain"
Geni. * Nasser Khan
"Legendary Labour Leaders"
''Trinidad and Tobago Guardian Online'', 20 June 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cipriani, Arthur Andrew 1875 births 1945 deaths British West Indies Regiment soldiers Mayors of Port of Spain Members of the Legislative Council of Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago people of French descent Trinidad and Tobago trade unionists Trinidad Labour Party politicians Racehorse trainers