Sir Shridath Surendranath Ramphal OM (3 October 1928 – 30 August 2024), often known as Sir Sonny Ramphal, was a Guyanese politician who was the second

Commonwealth Secretary-General The Commonwealth secretary-general, formally the secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations, is the head of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the central body which has served the Commonwealth of Nations since its establishment in 1965, and r ...

, holding the position from 1975 to 1990. He was also the

foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

from 1972 to 1975, and assistant attorney general of the

West Indies Federation The West Indies Federation, also known as the West Indies, the Federation of the West Indies or the West Indian Federation, was a short-lived political union that existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. Various islands in the Caribbean th ...

from 1958 to 1962. Ramphal was an Earth Charter International Commission member.

Biography

Ramphal was born in

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam (, ) was a 17th-century Dutch Empire, Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''Factory (trading post), fac ...

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

, to an

Indo-Guyanese Indo-Guyanese or Guyanese Indians, are Guyanese nationals of Indian origin who trace their ancestry to India and the wider subcontinent. They are the descendants of indentured servants and settlers who migrated from India beginning in 1838, a ...

family, and was the eldest of the five children of Grace and Jimmy Ramphal, a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

schoolteacher and pioneer of secondary education in the colony, who later became the first Guyanese person to be appointed to a government post when he was made a commissioner in the department of labour soon after the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. One of his grandmothers left

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

after refusing to commit sati and emigrated to British Guiana under the

Indian indenture system The Indian indenture system was a system of indentured servitude, by which more than 1.6million workers from British India were transported to labour in European colonies as a substitute for Atlantic slave trade, slave labour, following the Abol ...

. After attending schools in Georgetown, Ramphal studied law at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, graduating with LL.B. and LL.M. degrees. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in London in 1951. As a pupil barrister he worked with the British politician and lawyer Dingle Foot. Ramphal continued studying law for a year at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

in the US on a 1962

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

. Ramphal started his legal career as a Crown Counsel in the Attorney-General's Office in 1953, becoming Solicitor-General and then Assistant Attorney-General of the short-lived West Indies Federation. After a period in private practice in Jamaica, he returned to British Guiana in 1965 to be the

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 ...

. Two years later, he was also appointed Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs, later becoming Minister of Justice (from 1973) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (from 1972). In 1975, he left Guyana to become Commonwealth Secretary-General. He also served as the Chancellor of the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

from 1989 to 2002, of the

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 ...

from 1989 to 2003, and of the

University of Guyana The University of Guyana, in Georgetown, Guyana, is Guyana's national and most prestigious higher education institution. It was established in April 1963 with the following Mission: "To discover, generate, disseminate, and apply knowledge of th ...

from 1990 to 1992. During Ramphal's time as

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

Secretary-General, the United Kingdom represented by

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

was found to be in a minority of one on the issue of

economic sanctions Economic sanctions or embargoes are Commerce, commercial and Finance, financial penalties applied by states or institutions against states, groups, or individuals. Economic sanctions are a form of Coercion (international relations), coercion tha ...

against

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. With Ingvar Carlsson, he was in 1995 one of the co-chairs of the Commission on Global Governance, which reported on issues of

international development International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of economic development, economic or human development (economics), human development on an international sca ...

international security ''International Security'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal in the field of international and national security. It was founded in 1976 and is edited by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University and publis ...

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

and

global governance Global governance (or world governance) refers to institutions that coordinate the behavior of transnationality, transnational actors, facilitate cooperation, resolve disputes, and alleviate collective action problems. Global governance broadly ...

. Ramphal died on 30 August 2024, at the age of 95.

Selected bibliography

* ''Inseparable Humanity: An Anthology of Reflections'' ( Hansib, 1988) * ''Triumph for UNCLOS: The Guyana-Suriname Maritime Arbitration'' (Hansib, 2008) * ''Caribbean Challenges: Sir Shridath Ramphal's Collected Counsel'' (Hansib, 2012)

Honours and awards

Ramphal was appointed a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

(CMG) in the 1966 Birthday Honours. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the 1970 New Year Honours, and invested with his knighthood by the Queen at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

on 3 February. He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St. George (GCMG) in 1990. On 26 February 1982, Ramphal was appointed an honorary Companion of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AC). On 6 February 1990, Ramphal was the 19th appointee to the

Order of New Zealand The Order of New Zealand is the highest honour in the New Zealand royal honours system, created "to recognise outstanding service to the Crown and people of New Zealand in a civil or military capacity". It was instituted by royal warrant on 6 F ...

, New Zealand's highest civil honour. He was decorated as a Member of the Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC) in the first conferment in 1992. In May 2006 Ramphal was appointed an Honorary Fellow of

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

. He was a vice-president of the Royal Commonwealth Society. The Ramphal Building at the

was named in his honour. In 2002, Rampal was awarded the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize. In 2003, he was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

In popular culture

Ramphal is portrayed by Tony Jayawardena in the fourth season of the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

web television series ''

The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

''.

References

External links

*
Transcript of the interview, part one

Transcript of the interview, part twoThe Ramphal Institute
- Official website for the continuation of the work of Sir Shridath Ramphal: promoting good governance, economic development and social justice around the world. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramphal, Shridath 1928 births 2024 deaths Alumni of King's College London British colonial attorneys general in the Americas Chancellors of the University of Warwick Commonwealth secretaries-general Fellows of King's College London Foreign ministers of Guyana Guyanese diplomats Guyanese knights Guyanese Queen's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Guyanese politicians of Indian descent Harvard Law School alumni Honorary Fellows of the London School of Economics Justice ministers of Guyana Knights Bachelor Members of Gray's Inn People from New Amsterdam, Guyana Presidents of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Recipients of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Recipients of the Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo Recipients of the Order of Merit (Jamaica) Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Honorary companions of the Order of Australia Honorary members of the Order of New Zealand Recipients of the Order of Izzuddin