Anthony Isidore Smart is a

Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The country is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As a ...

politician and lawyer. He served as a Member of Parliament from December 1986 to November 1991 and

Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago According to the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago, the supreme law of the nation, the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago is the primary legal advisor to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. Roles and funct ...

from March 1989 to November 1991. He was also Political Leader of the

National Alliance for Reconstruction The National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) was the governing party in Trinidad and Tobago between 1986 and 1991. The party has been inactive since 2005. History The party was established in 1986, aiming to be a multi-racial party. Nohlen, D ...

(NAR) from April 2000 to November 2001. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the

First Citizens Bank First Citizens Bancshares, Inc. is a bank holding company based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Its primary subsidiary is First Citizens Bank. It is on the list of largest banks in the United States. As of December 31, 2019, the company operated 57 ...

since June 17, 2014.

Personal life

He is son of Isidore Smart, a former Chief State Solicitor of Trinidad and Tobago from 1965 to 1976. He attended the secondary school of

Fatima College Fatima College is a government-assisted, Roman Catholic boys' secondary school in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. It was established in 1945 and had an enrollment of 895 students . The school was established and is run by the Holy Ghost Fath ...

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

from January 1958 to June 1964. Smart graduated from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

with a BA in Economics. He is brother of Wayne Smart, a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who played for the

Trinidad and Tobago national cricket team The Trinidad and Tobago cricket team, or officially the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force, is the representative cricket team of the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The Red Force takes part in inter-regional cricket competitions in the Caribbean, ...

Political life

Smart was a founding member of the

Organisation for National Reconstruction The Organisation for National Reconstruction (ONR) was a political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party received the second-highest number of votes in the 1981 general elections, but failed to win a seat. Prior to the 1986 elections it merged ...

(ONR) in November 1980 and the

(NAR) in July 1985. Smart contested the

Diego Martin Diego Martin is a town and is the urban commercial center and capital of the Diego Martin region in Trinidad and Tobago. Its location in the region is just on the south eastern border, west of the capital city of Port of Spain and east of the t ...

North/East in the 1986 General Elections held on December 15, 1986 with the NAR political party, led by

A. N. R. Robinson Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson (16 December 1926 – 9 April 2014; known as A. N. R. or "Ray" Robinson), was the third President of Trinidad and Tobago, serving from 19 March 1997 to 17 March 2003. He was also Trinidad and Tobago's third Prime ...

. He defeated incumbent Norma Lewis-Phillip of the

People's National Movement The People's National Movement (PNM) is the longest-serving and oldest active political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party has dominated national and local politics for much of Trinidad and Tobago's history, contesting all elections sinc ...

(PNM) with 9,110 votes (62.93%) to be elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

in the 3rd Republican

Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago The Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago is the legislative branch of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. The Parliament is bicameral. Besides the President of Trinidad and Tobago, it is composed of the House of Representatives, which is compose ...

. The NAR won 33 of the 36 seats to form the Government. Smart served at Deputy

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

from January 12, 1987 to June 12, 1987, and Minister in the Office of the Attorney General and Office of the Prime Minister from June 13, 1987 to February 28, 1989. He was appointed Attorney General on March 1, 1989. Smart was Attorney General during the 1990 attempted coup when the

Jamaat al Muslimeen The Jamaat al Muslimeen (, also transliterated as Jamaat-ul Muslimeen or Jama'at al-Muslimeen, ''"School of Muslims", "Group of Muslims", "The Muslim Group", "The Muslim Assembly", "The Muslim Society", "The Muslim Community"'') is a radical extr ...

attempted to overthrow the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. Smart, who was at the Red House attending a cocktail party, disguised himself to escape being held hostage during the event. He was the only elected member of the government to escape capture on the first day during the initial hostage taking in the Parliament Chamber on July 27, 1990 - other members were released five to six days later. In the 1991 general elections held on December 16, 1991, Smart lost his seat to

Colm Imbert Colm Imbert is the Ministry of Finance (Trinidad and Tobago), Minister of Finance since September 2015 and Member of Parliament for the constituency of Diego Martin North/East, which he has represented since December 1991. During his lengthy pa ...

of the PNM who won the election with 7,111 votes (54.98%) compared to Smart's 5,280 votes (40.82%).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smart, Anthony Members of the House of Representatives (Trinidad and Tobago) Government ministers of Trinidad and Tobago Living people 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago lawyers National Alliance for Reconstruction politicians Organisation for National Reconstruction politicians University of Toronto alumni Attorneys General of Trinidad and Tobago Year of birth missing (living people)