Dame Cécile Ellen Fleurette La Grenade, (born 30 December 1952) is a Grenadian

food scientist Food science is the basic science and applied science of food; its scope starts at overlap with agricultural science and nutritional science and leads through the scientific aspects of food safety and food processing, informing the developmen ...

who has served as

Governor-General of Grenada The governor-general of Grenada is the vice-regal representative of the Grenadian monarch, currently King Charles III, in Grenada. The governor-general is appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister of Grenada. The fun ...

since 7 May 2013.

Early life

La Grenade was born in La Borie, located in

Saint George Parish, Grenada Saint George is one of the parishes of Grenada, located on the south-western end of the island. The capital of Grenada, St. George's, is located in this parish, and it is regarded as the most picturesque capital in the Caribbean. Its horseshoe ...

. She is the third of five daughters born to Allan A. La Grenade , a

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

, and Sibyl Sylvester-La Grenade, a

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to o ...

. Her maternal grandmother, Mary Louise "Eva" Ollivierre-Sylvester, was the first woman in the

British Windward Islands The British Windward Islands was an administrative grouping of British colonies in the Windward Islands of the West Indies, existing from 1833 until 31 December 1959 and consisting of the islands of Grenada, St Lucia, Saint Vincent, the Grenad ...

to serve on the legislative council of her country, after being elected in 1952, less than a year after universal

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

. La Grenade is a

trained in the United States. She holds a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

from 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 17 English-speaking countries and territories in th ...

, as well as a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

and

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

food science Food science is the basic science and applied science of food; its scope starts at overlap with agricultural science and nutritional science and leads through the scientific aspects of food safety and food processing, informing the developm ...

from the

University of Maryland at College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

Public service

She became a member of the Caribbean Export Development Agency’s Steering Committee, serving as the OECS Private Sector Representative, in 2006. In 2007 she was appointed Chairman of the Public Service Commission by Governor-General Sir Daniel Williams, a position she held until 2010. Her appointment as governor-general was announced during the same week as the death of

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

's first female

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, Dame

Hilda Bynoe Dame Hilda Louisa Bynoe, DBE (''née'' Gibbs; 18 November 1921 – 6 April 2013) was the Governor of Grenada between 1967 and 1972. A doctor and hospital administrator, Bynoe was, so far, the only woman to have been a governor of one of the Br ...

. Bynoe was the goddaughter of La Grenade's maternal grandfather, Dr Cyril I. St Bernard Sylvester, an educator and public servant. As governor-general, La Grenade opened the new Grenadian Parliament building in 2018. She has, as patron of the Willie Redhead Foundation, been an outspoken supporter of the restoration of Grenada's built heritage, especially the viceregal residence of

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries. Gover ...

and York House; the former seat of Parliament. Dame Cécile was the Governor-General of Grenada at the time of the

Death of Queen Elizabeth II On 8 September 2022, at 15:10 BST, Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, and the longest-reigning British monarch, died of old age at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. The Queen's death wa ...

and the ascension to the throne of

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

as the island’s second monarch post-independence. She attended the

Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II On 8 September 2022, at 15:10 BST, Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, and the longest-reigning British monarch, died of old age at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. The Queen's death wa ...

as the Grenadian representative.

Honours

Overseas honours

* ** Two Sicilian Royal Family: Knight Grand Cross of Justice of the Two Sicilian Royal Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George * : Dame Grand Cross with Collar 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 IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

* : Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

* : Dame of the Order of St John

References

Sources

* United Nations CEDAW/C/GRD/Q/1-5/Add.1 :Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; Distr.: General, 4 November 2011; ADVANCE UNEDITED VERSION (p. 14) * Shepherd, Verene A. (editor), ''Women in Caribbean History'' (Kingston: Ian Randle, 1999, ).

External links

Grenada Names First Female Governor General, Cecile La GrenadeConvention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Grenade, Cecile 1952 births Dames Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Dames of Justice of the Order of St John Governors-General of Grenada Grenadian people of Carriacouan descent Officers of the Order of the British Empire Living people University of Maryland, College Park alumni University of the West Indies alumni People from Saint George Parish, Grenada Food scientists