Stephen Campbell was an

Arawak The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greater ...

an Guyanese politician and political activist, and the first

Amerindian The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...

member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

in Guyanese history.

Biography

Stephen Joseph Campbell was born to Tiburtio A. Campbell and his wife, Maria dos Santos, in Santa Rosa, British Guiana, on 26 December 1897. Both of Campbell's parents died when he was young, and he was subsequently raised by his grandmother. He was brought up as 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 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

. He studied at Santa Rosa Mission School, and subsequently worked for many years as a teacher and as a

catechist Catechesis (; from 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 converts to Christianity, but as the ...

in various regions of Guyana. Campbell married Umbelina Da Silva on 9 February 1928. On 10 September 1957, Campbell became the first Amerindian

in Guyanese history, when he was elected onto the Legislative Council of British Guiana. He subsequently joined the National Labour Front. In 1961, Campbell changed parties to

The United Force The United Force is a conservative and economically liberal political party in Guyana. It currently has no representation in the National Assembly and is led by Marissa Nadir. History Established on 5 October 1960 by Peter D'Aguiar, and was ini ...

. In 1964, he became Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs. Campbell went to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

for medical treatment, and died there on 12 May 1966, just two weeks before Guyana won

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the s ...

from Great Britain. He was buried in Canada.

Legacy

Campbell is widely regarded as a hero by Amerindian communities in Guyana, and his achievements are celebrated on 10 September every year as a part of Amerindian Heritage Month. Campbelltown has been named after Stephen Campbell. In 2018, the building of the Ministry of Citizenship was renamed after Campbell.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Stephen Indigenous people of South America History of Guyana Guyanese people of Arawak descent Guyanese politicians People from Barima-Waini 1897 births 1966 deaths British Guiana people