Sir Ellis Emmanuel Innocent Clarke (28 December 191730 December 2010) was the first President of Trinidad and Tobago and the second and last

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

. He was one of the main architects of

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 ...

's 1962 Independence constitution.

Early life

Ellis Clarke attended Saint Mary's College in

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 ...

, winning an Island Scholarship in Mathematics in 1938. He attended

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of the

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, where he received a

Bachelor of Law A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree and was called to the bar at

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. He returned to Port of Spain in 1941, taking up private practice there.

Political career

Clarke served as Solicitor-General from 1954 to 1956, Deputy Colonial Secretary 1956–57, and

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

1957–62. After Independence in 1962, he served as Ambassador to the United States, Canada and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, and Permanent Representative to the United Nations. At the time, he participated in the 2nd Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in

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in 1964. In 1972, he succeeded Sir

Solomon Hochoy Sir Solomon Hochoy (20 April 1905 – 15 November 1983) was the last colonial governor of Trinidad and Tobago and the first governor-general upon the country's independence in 1962. He was the first non-European governor of a British crown col ...

Governor General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

. When

became a republic in 1976, Clarke was unanimously elected the country's first

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

by the

electoral college An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

, which comprised the elected members of both Houses of Parliament. He was re-elected by the

People's National Movement The People's National Movement (PNM) is the longest-serving and oldest active Politics of Trinidad and Tobago, political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party has dominated national and local politics for much of Trinidad and Tobago's hist ...

-controlled electoral college and completed his second term in 1987. Disagreements with the new

National Alliance for Reconstruction The National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) was the governing political party, party in Trinidad and Tobago between 1986 and 1991. The party has been inactive since 2005. History The party was established in 1986, aiming to be a multi-racial ...

government resulted in Clarke's decision not to seek a third term. He was succeeded by

Noor Hassanali Noor Mohamed Hassanali (; 13 August 1918 – 25 August 2006) was a Trinidadian lawyer, judge and politician who served as the second president of Trinidad and Tobago from 1987 to 1997. A retired high-court judge, he was the first person of In ...

. Clarke was invested as a Companion of St Michael and St George by

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in 1960 and was awarded a

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as a Knight Grand Cross of that order in 1972. Although he ceased to use the title ''Sir'' after the country became a republic, after retirement from the presidency he re-adopted his title and was generally referred to as "Former President, Sir Ellis Clarke" or Sir Ellis. He was married to Lady Ermyntrude Clarke (1921–2002) for almost fifty years. They had three children: Peter Ellis Clarke (married to Suzanne Traboulay, a former beauty queen), Margaret-Ann (married to Gordon Fisken) and Richard (who died as a young child). Ellis Clarke was one of six experts worldwide asked to submit reports to Australia's Republic Advisory Committee in 1993 detailing his country's experience in moving from a

constitutional monarchy Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...

to a republic.

Death and funerals

On 24 November 2010, Clarke suffered a massive

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. He died on 30 December 2010, two days after his 93rd birthday. Clarke was laid to rest on 7 January 2011. A private funeral was held at the Church of the Assumption on Maraval Road in Port of Spain. Both his living children as well as his four grandsons gave tributes. Following the private funeral, a state funeral was held at the National Academy for the Performing Arts Building situated at the

Queen's Park Savannah Queen's Park Savannah (QPS) is a park in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Known locally as simply "the Savannah", it is Port of Spain's largest open space. It occupies about of level land, and the distance around the perimeter is about 2.2&nb ...

. It was an inter-religious celebration at which the President, Prime Minister and Chief Justice paid tributes. In attendance were members of Parliament, senators, members of the diplomatic corps, and foreign heads of state and dignitaries. A procession through Port of Spain followed the service. Sir Ellis'a coffin, draped in a Trinidad and Tobago flag, was set atop a cannon and pulled by a military vehicle. The procession concluded at Lapeyrouse Cemetery, where he was buried at the Clarke family plot, which burial was attended by family and friends.

References

External links