Hon. Eileen Alix Boyd-Knights (28 December 1944 — 29 August 2023) was a Dominican politician and attorney who was the Speaker of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

from 2000 to 2020.

Early life & education

Eileen Alix Boyd was born in Dominica to parents Alec David Boyd and Eileen Marguerite Shillingford Grell. By 12 years old, she had decided on pursuing a career in law. She had a Bachelor of Laws degree from

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in t ...

and a degree from

Hugh Wooding Law School The Hugh Wooding Law School (HWLS) is a law school in Trinidad and Tobago. History Named for Trinidad and Tobago jurist and politician Hugh Wooding, HWLS is one of three law schools empowered by the (Caribbean) Council of Legal Education to a ...

, Trinidad and Tobago.

Career

Boyd Knights was first elected Speaker on 17 April 2000 and was re-elected on 27 July 2005, 4 February 2010 and 20 February 2015. Upon her election to a third term on 4 February 2010, she became the longest serving Speaker in Dominica's history. In 2010, she was initially nominated by the Dominica Labour Party led government to become the next President of Dominica. She stepped down as the speaker in 2020, and was awarded title Speaker Emeritus. Alix Boyd Knights died on 29 August 2023. She was given a state funeral.

References

External links

*. 1940s births Year of birth missing 2023 deaths Dominica Labour Party politicians Speakers of the House of Assembly of Dominica Dominica civil servants 21st-century Dominica women politicians 21st-century Dominica politicians Women legislative speakers Dominica lawyers Dominica women lawyers University of the West Indies alumni {{dominica-politician-stub