Cheddi Bharat Jagan (March 22, 1918 – March 6, 1997) was a
GuyaneseGuyana officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and previously known as British Guiana, is a state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean.Guyana was discovered in 1498 by the Europeans,Guyana's past is punctuated by battles fought and won,...
politician who was Chief Minister of
British GuianaBritish Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana.The area was originally settled by the Dutch as the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice...
from 1961 to 1964, prior to independence, and later President of Guyana from 1992 to 1997.
The son of ethnic Indian sugar plantation workers, Jagan managed to attend
Queen's College-History:In 1951, a history of the school was published by Senior Master, N.E. Cameron . It was updated and re-published in 2009 by the QC Alumni Association in Toronto ....
in
GeorgetownGeorgetown, estimated population 239,227 , is the capital and largest city of Guyana, located in the Demerara-Mahaica region. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River and it was nicknamed 'Garden City of the Caribbean.' Georgetown is located at . The city serves...
. He later studied at the
Howard UniversityHoward University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States....
Dental School in
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
, and
Northwestern University{{Infobox university|name = Northwestern University|image_name = NU seal.png|motto = Quaecumque sunt vera |mottoeng =Whatsoever things are true |established = 1851|type = Private|calendar = Quarter...
in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
before returning home in the early 1940s.
He was elected to the colonial legislative body, the Legislative Council, in November 1947 as an independent candidate from Central Demerara constituency. On January 1 1950, the
People's Progressive PartyThe People's Progressive Party is a political party in Guyana which has governed continuously since 1992. Its publication is Thunder and its General Secretary is Donald Ramotar...
(PPP) was founded, with Jagan as its Leader,
Forbes BurnhamLinden Forbes Sampson Burnham was the leader of Guyana from 1964 until his death, as the Prime Minister from 1964 to 1980 and as President from 1980 to 1985...
as its Chairman and Jagan's wife
JanetJanet Rosenberg Jagan was an American-born socialist politician who was President of Guyana from December 19, 1997 to August 11, 1999. She previously served as Prime Minister of Guyana from March 17, 1997 to December 19, 1997.-Early years and marriage:She was born as Janet Rosenberg to...
as its Secretary.
Jagan won in a colonially administered election in 1953, but was removed from power militarily by Britain, which, under strong behind-the-scenes pressure from the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the CIA, asserted that he had ties to the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
. Jagan resigned as British Guiana prime minister after 133 days. Britain suspended the constitution and chose an interim government. Jagan's movements were restricted to Georgetown from 1954 to 1957.
After a PPP victory in the August 1961 election, Jagan became Chief Minister for a second time, serving for three years. In the December 1964 election, the PPP won a plurality of votes, but Burnham's party, the People's National Congress, and the conservative United Force were nevertheless invited to form the government.
Having broken off links with Burnham Jagan was active in the government as a labor activist and leader of the opposition. After 28 years in opposition, he and the PPP won the October 1992 election with about 54% of the vote, and Jagan became President.
Jagan suffered a heart attack in the morning of February 15 1997 and was taken to Georgetown Hospital before being flown by U.S. military aircraft to Walter Reed Army Hospital in the U.S. capital, Washington, DC, later that day. He underwent heart surgery there and died in Washington on March 6 1997. Prime Minister
Sam HindsSamuel Archibald Anthony Hinds is a Guyanese politician who has been Prime Minister of Guyana almost continuously since 1992....
succeeded him as President and declared six days of mourning, describing Jagan as the "greatest son and patriot that has ever walked this land".
His presidential tenure was characterized by the revival of the union movement and a re-commitment to education and infrastructure improvement. Towards the end of his life, he abandoned
Marxism-LeninismMarxism-Leninism is a communist ideological stream that emerged as the mainstream tendency among the Communist parties in the 1920s as it was adopted as the ideological foundation of the Communist International during Stalin's era....
and began to move his country to a free-market
capitalistCapitalism is an economic and social system in which the means of production are privately controlled; labor, goods and capital are traded in a market; profits are distributed to owners or invested in technologies and industries; and wages are paid to labor...
system.
He married
JanetJanet Rosenberg Jagan was an American-born socialist politician who was President of Guyana from December 19, 1997 to August 11, 1999. She previously served as Prime Minister of Guyana from March 17, 1997 to December 19, 1997.-Early years and marriage:She was born as Janet Rosenberg to...
(
néeNEE, Nee, Née may refer to:* Née or Nee, French for "born", indicates a person's birth surname* Nee , a band in Kannada* NEE, a political party in Flanders, Belgium* "Ne~e?", a 2003 single by Aya Matsuura- People with the family name :...
Rosenberg), an alleged former member of a communist youth organization, in 1943, and the couple had two children, Nadira and
Cheddi Jr.Dr. Cheddi 'Joey' Jagan Jr. is a doctor and a politician in Guyana.He is the son of the past presidents Cheddi Jagan and Janet Jagan .In politics, he is the co-founder of the Unity Party of Guyana, a pro-capitalist seeking to bring more foreign investment to Guyana. Dr. Cheddi 'Joey' Jagan Jr. is...
(who in turn produced five grandchildren, Cheddi B. Jagan II, Vrinda Jagan, Avasa Jagan, Alex Brancier, Natasha Brancier). Mrs. Jagan followed her husband's footsteps and held the positions of prime minister and president in 1997 (succeeded as president by
Bharrat JagdeoBharrat Jagdeo has been the President of Guyana since 11 August 1999. Prior to his presidency he was Minister of Finance and became President after Janet Jagan resigned for health reasons; he has since won two elections, in 2001 and 2006. He is the youngest head of state of the Caricom countries...
in 1999). A museum in the capital,
GeorgetownGeorgetown, estimated population 239,227 , is the capital and largest city of Guyana, located in the Demerara-Mahaica region. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River and it was nicknamed 'Garden City of the Caribbean.' Georgetown is located at . The city serves...
, celebrates Cheddi Jagan's life and work, complete with a replication of his office.
Jagan was also an important political author and speechwriter, and his publications include
Forbidden Freedom: The Story of British Guiana, The West On Trial: My Fight for Guyana's Freedom, The Caribbean Revolution, and
The USA in South America, among others.
External links
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|before = Office established
|title =
Chief Minister of Guyana
|years = 1953
|after = Office abolished
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|before = Office established
|title =
Premier of Guyana
|years = 1961 – 1964
|after =
Forbes BurnhamLinden Forbes Sampson Burnham was the leader of Guyana from 1964 until his death, as the Prime Minister from 1964 to 1980 and as President from 1980 to 1985...
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Desmond HoyteHugh Desmond Hoyte was a Guyanese politician. He served as Prime Minister of Guyana from 1984 to 1985 and President of Guyana from 1985 until 1992.He was born in Guyana's capital, Georgetown...
|title =
President of Guyana
|years = 1992 – 1997
|after =
Sam HindsSamuel Archibald Anthony Hinds is a Guyanese politician who has been Prime Minister of Guyana almost continuously since 1992....
}}
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