Ann Peters is a
Grenadian politician who previously served as health minister. A nurse by training, Peters has also served as a senator for the
National Democratic Congress party and as president of the Grenada Nurses Association.
Biography
Born in Grenada, Peters trained as a nurse at the
University of Guyana
The University of Guyana, in Georgetown, Guyana, is Guyana's national higher education institution. It was established in April 1963 with the following Mission: "To discover, generate, disseminate, and apply knowledge of the highest standard for ...
. She worked as a nursing teacher, eventually becoming president of the Grenada Nurses Association.
She was in this role during the 1983 coup and subsequent
U.S. invasion of Grenada
The United States invasion of Grenada began at dawn on 25 October 1983. The United States and a Caribbean Peace Force, coalition of six Caribbean nations invaded the island nation of Grenada, north of Venezuela. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fur ...
. Peters and her fellow nurses joined other protesters in storming the military barracks to free the leftist prime minister
Maurice Bishop
Maurice Rupert Bishop (29 May 1944 – 19 October 1983) was a Grenadian revolutionary and the leader of New Jewel Movement – a Marxist–Leninist party which sought to prioritise socio-economic development, education, and black liberation ...
, and she was shot and badly injured during his opponents' attack on the fort. She was with Bishop during his final hours before he was killed on Oct. 19, though she survived the executions herself.
After 1983, Peters continued to work in health care, running the Legal Aid and Counseling Clinic and serving as chair of Grenada's National AIDS Council.
She was appointed to
Grenada's Senate by Prime Minister
Nicholas Brathwaite
Sir Nicholas Alexander Brathwaite OBE (8 July 1925 – 28 October 2016) was the head of government of Grenada for two periods, first as Chairman of the Interim Advisory Council (1983 to 1984) established after the United States invasion of Grena ...
in the 1990s, serving several terms as a member of the National Democratic Congress party.
She served as the party's public relations officer from 2009 until 2010, when she stepped down amid party infighting.
Peters became health minister in 2009 amid a cabinet reshuffle under Prime Minister
. She oversaw the provision of health services in Grenada and represented the country in international bodies until the end of her term in 2013.
Since leaving the Senate, Peters has run La Boucan Creative Center, an education center.
Peters is also a singer and dancer, serving as choreographer for the National Performing Arts Company of Grenada from 1979 to 1983.
She and her husband, the playwright Francis Urias Peters, produced a play about the country's revolution for its 30th anniversary in 2013.
External links
Interview with Ann Peters on BBC Radio 4
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Ann
Living people
Women government ministers of Grenada
Members of the Senate of Grenada
National Democratic Congress (Grenada) politicians
20th-century Grenadian women politicians
20th-century Grenadian politicians
Year of birth missing (living people)