Marie Davis Pierre (12 March 1918 – 24 May 2014) was a

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

who served as 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 1980 to 1988.

Early life and education

The daughter of Pauline Charles Davis and William Lionel Davis, she was born on 12 March 1918 in Dominica. She attended the Convent High School in Pointe Michel.

Career

In 1937, Davis Pierre started a

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

called the St David School. Davis Pierre joined the civil service in 1944 and became Deputy Registrar in 1965. In 1967, when Dominica became an

Associated state An associated state is the minor partner or dependent territory in a formal, free relationship between a political territory (some of them dependent states, most of them fully sovereign) and a major party—usually a larger state. The details ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, she became Clerk of the House. Davis Pierre wrote a book, ''Parliamentary Practice and Working Methods of the Dominica House of Assembly'', which was published in 1975. On 3 November 1978, Dominica became a

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

and Davis Pierre organised the

Windsor Park The National Football Stadium at Windsor Park (officially the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park for sponsorship reasons), or the National Football Stadium, also known as Windsor Park is a association football, football stadium in B ...

meeting of parliament where the constitutional instruments were handed over to Premier Patrick John by

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. ...

. She retired from the civil service in December 1978. Davis Pierre was appointed as Speaker of the House of Assembly by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Eugenia Charles Dame Mary Eugenia Charles (15 May 1919 – 6 September 2005) was a Dominican politician who was Prime Minister of Dominica from 21 July 1980 until 14 June 1995. The first female lawyer in Dominica, she was Dominica's first, and to date only, fem ...

in August 1980 under the Dominica Freedom Party administration. She was the first woman to hold the role and served in the position until December 1988. She wrote the Standing Order of the House of Assembly in 1986.

Personal life

Davis Pierre was a devout

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and served as a

catechist Catechesis (; from Greek language, Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of Conversion to Christia ...

and member of the Roseau Cathedral Cathedral choir for 56 years.

Death

Davis Pierre died on 24 May 2014, aged 96. The Government of Dominica declared Wednesday, 4 June 2014, the day of her funeral, an official day of mourning. Her funeral was held at the St. Gerard’s Hall Chapel and she was buried at Roseau Roman Catholic Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pierre, Marie Davis 1918 births 2014 deaths Dominica civil servants 20th-century Dominica women politicians 20th-century Dominica politicians Women legislative speakers Speakers of the House of Assembly of Dominica