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Sir Eric Matthew Gairy
PC (18 February 192223 August 1997) was the first Prime Minister of
Grenada, serving from his country's independence in 1974 until his overthrow in a
coup by
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 â ...
in 1979. Gairy also served as head of government in pre-independence Grenada as Chief Minister from 1961 to 1962, and as Premier from 1967 to 1974.
Early days in Grenada: 1922–41
Eric Matthew Gairy was the son of Douglas and Theresa Gairy, and was born 18 February 1922 in Dunfermline,
St. Andrew's Parish on the eastern side of the island near
Grenville, Grenada
Grenville is the second largest town in Grenada, after St. George's, and it is the capital of the largest parish, Saint Andrew Parish. Grenville is located on Grenville Bay, about halfway up the east coast of the Caribbean island of Grenada and ...
. He attended the LaFillette School and then the St. Andrews Roman Catholic Senior School. He was also an acolyte at St. Andrew's Roman Catholic Church, next door to the school. He became a primary "student-teacher" in the LaFillette School from January 1939 to September 1941. He moved to
Aruba where he worked several years in the oil refinery of the
Lago Oil and Transport Company
Lago Oil & Transport Co. Ltd. had its beginning in 1924 as a shipping company carrying crude oil from Lake Maracaibo to its transshipment facility on the island of Aruba.
History
With the discovery of a vast amount of crude oil under Lake M ...
.
Trade union leader and "Red Sky": 1950–51
Eric Gairy returned to Grenada in December, 1949 to enter trade unionism and politics. In 1950 he founded the Grenada Manual & Mental Workers Union (GMMWU) and was deeply involved in encouraging the 1951
general strike for better working conditions. This sparked great unrest - so many buildings were set ablaze that the disturbances became known as the "red sky" days - and the British authorities had to call in military reinforcements to help regain control of the situation. Gairy himself was taken into custody.
Radical political leader: 1951–61
In 1950, Gairy founded the
Grenada United Labour Party
The Grenada United Labour Party (GULP) is a political party in Grenada.
History
The party was founded by Eric Gairy in 1950. It contested the first elections held under universal suffrage in 1951, and won six of the eight seats. Nohlen, D (2005) ...
. He was elected as a representative of the Colony of Grenada's Legislative Council in 1951, 1954, and 1957. He was banned from political activities and lost his seat between 1957 and 1961.
Chief Minister: 1961–62
Gairy was returned in a by-election in July 1961 and became Chief Minister, as his party held a majority in the Legislative Council since winning the
1961 general election. He served as Chief Minister and
Minister of Finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
from August 1961 until April 1962 when he was dismissed by the British colonial Governor for the questionable use of state funds.
Leader of the Opposition: 1962–67
Gairy's party lost the
1962 general election and he served as leader of the opposition between 1962 and 1967.
Premier: 1967–74
First administration: 1967–72
Gairy won the
1967 general election and formed a new administration as Premier of the Associated State of Grenada.
Miss World controversy
In the 1970
Miss World pageant in London, controversy followed after
Grenadian contestant
Jennifer Hosten
Jennifer Hosten (born 31 October 1947) is a Grenadian radio announcer, development worker, diplomat, author, model and beauty queen who won the Miss World 1970 contest, representing Grenada. She became the first black woman and the first woman f ...
won, and another black contestant from
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
placed second. Since Gairy was on the judging panel, inevitably there were many accusations that the contest had been rigged. The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and newspapers received numerous protests about the result, and accusations of racism were made by all sides. Four of the nine judges had given first-place votes to Miss Sweden,
Marjorie Christel Johansson, while Miss Grenada received only two firsts, yet Johansson finished fourth. Some of the audience gathered in the street outside
Royal Albert Hall after the contest and chanted "Swe-den, Swe-den". Four days later, organising director
Julia Morley
Julia Evelyn Morley (née Pritchard; born 25 October 1939) is a British businesswoman, charity worker, and former model. She is the chairman and CEO of the Miss World Organization, which organizes the Miss World and Mister World. She is the w ...
(1941-) resigned because of the intense pressure from the newspapers. Years later Johansson was reported as saying that she had been cheated out of the title.
Second administration 1972–74
Gairy won the
1972 general election and formed a new administration as Premier of the Associated State of Grenada.
Prime Minister: 1974–79
First administration: 1974–76
Gairy became the first
Prime Minister of Grenada
This is a list of heads of government of Grenada, from the establishment of the office of Chief Minister in 1960 to the present day.
The Prime Minister appoints the Cabinet of Grenada.
Heads of government before the 1974 independence
Chief m ...
when Grenada achieved independence from
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
on 7 February 1974. Gairy's term in office coincided with civil strife in Grenada. The political environment was highly charged, with Gairy's secret police, the
Mongoose Gang The Mongoose Gang was a private army or militia which operated from 1967 to 1979 under the control of Sir Eric Gairy, the Premier and later Prime Minister of Grenada, and head of the Grenada United Labour Party. Officially, Mongoose Gang members we ...
, terrorizing opponents.
Second administration: 1976–79
Gairy's party narrowly won the
1976 election but the result was declared fraudulent by international observers due to intimidation of the opposition by Gairy's secret police, known as the
Mongoose Gang The Mongoose Gang was a private army or militia which operated from 1967 to 1979 under the control of Sir Eric Gairy, the Premier and later Prime Minister of Grenada, and head of the Grenada United Labour Party. Officially, Mongoose Gang members we ...
.
On 27 November 1978, Eric Gairy led a group including scientists and an astronaut in addressing the United Nations on the subject of
UFO
An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...
s.
US citizens helped to support the overthrow of Eric Gairy with solidarity movements. One such solidarity movement existed in San Antonio, Texas and was headed by African-American activist
Mario Marcel Salas, who was active in his overthrow on a number of levels. Civil strife took the form of street violence between government supporters, including the
Mongoose Gang The Mongoose Gang was a private army or militia which operated from 1967 to 1979 under the control of Sir Eric Gairy, the Premier and later Prime Minister of Grenada, and head of the Grenada United Labour Party. Officially, Mongoose Gang members we ...
, and gangs organized by the
New Jewel Movement
The New Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation, or New JEWEL Movement (NJM), was a Marxist–Leninist vanguard party in the Caribbean island nation of Grenada that was led by Maurice Bishop.
Established in 1973, the NJM issued i ...
(NJM). In the late 1970s, the NJM began planning to overthrow the government, with party members receiving military training outside of Grenada.
In 1979, a rumour circulated that Gairy would use the Gang to eliminate leaders of the New Jewel Movement while he was out of the country.
In response, Bishop overthrew Gairy in March of that year while the latter was visiting the United States.
On 13 March 1979, while Gairy was at the UN, the New Jewel Movement led by
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 â ...
launched an armed revolution and overthrew the government. Bishop suspended the constitution, and the New Jewel Movement ruled the country by decree until 1983.
Anti-Gairy activity was carried out in the United States in support of the revolution to overthrow Gairy including activists in San Antonio, Texas.
[Political leader Mario Marcel Salas of San Antonio, who later became a city councilman and professor was involved in the overthrown of the Gairy regime (U.S. Federal court records, Washington, DC, and ''San Antonio Light Newspaper'').]
Exile in the United States: 1979–83
Gairy stayed in exile in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
until 1983, when the United States, backed by some Caribbean allies - notably, Dame
Eugenia Charles, Prime Minister of
Dominica and
Edward Seaga
Edward Philip George Seaga ( or ; 28 May 1930 – 28 May 2019) was a Jamaican politician. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Jamaica, from 1980 to 1989, and the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party from 1974 to 2005.[Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...]
- invaded to topple a military government which had overthrown and killed Bishop.
Return and final days: 1983–97
Gairy then returned to Grenada and campaigned in the
elections of 1984, claiming to be a changed man. However, his party lost the elections, winning 36% of the popular vote but only a single seat in 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 ...
. Attempts by Gairy and his party to return to power in
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...
and
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...
were also unsuccessful. He died in Grand Anse, Grenada.
See also
*
History of Grenada
The history of islands of Grenada in the Caribbean, part of the Lesser Antilles group of islands, covers a period from the earliest human settlements to the establishment of the contemporary nationstate of Grenada.
First settled by Indigenous peop ...
*
Sir Eric Matthew Gairy Botanical Gardens
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gairy, Eric
1922 births
1997 deaths
Members of the House of Representatives of Grenada
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Prime Ministers of Grenada
Finance ministers of Grenada
Grenada United Labour Party politicians
Knights Bachelor
Grenadian Roman Catholics
Leaders ousted by a coup
People from Saint Andrew Parish, Grenada
Ufologists
Grenadian expatriates
Expatriates in Aruba
20th-century Grenadian politicians