George Cadle Price, (15 January 191919 September 2011), was a

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

an statesman who served twice as the head of government of Belize from 1961–1984 and 1989–1993. He served as First Minister and Premier under British rule until independence in 1981 and was the nation's first

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

after independence that year. He is considered to have been one of the principal architects of Belizean independence. Today he is referred to by many as the "

Father of the Nation The Father of the Nation is an honorific title given to a person considered the driving force behind the establishment of a country, state, or nation. (plural ), also seen as , was a Roman honorific meaning the "Father of the Fatherland", best ...

". Price effectively dominated Belizean politics from the early 1960s until his 1996 retirement from party leadership, serving as the nation's head of government under various titles for most of that period. He entered politics in 1947 with his election to the Belize City Council. In 1949, with the devaluation of the British Honduran dollar he, together with a group of citizens, formed the People's Committee. It was the start of the "peaceful, constructive Belizean revolution". On 29 September 1950, he co-founded the

People's United Party The People's United Party (PUP) is one of two major political parties in Belize. It is currently the governing party of Belize after success in the 2020 Belizean general election, winning a majority of 26 seats out of 31 in the Belizean House ...

, which he led for four decades and which was devoted to the political and economic independence of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...

, then known as

British Honduras British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,

Early life and education

George Price was born in

Belize City Belize City is the largest city in Belize and was once the capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2010 census, Belize City has a population of 57,169 people in 16,162 households. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, wh ...

in what was then

British Honduras British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,

, to William and Irene (née Escalante) Price. He had eight sisters and two brothers. Price received his early education at Holy Redeemer Primary School and St. Johns College High School (SJC). He survived the hurricane of 1931 which destroyed SJC at Loyola Park, swimming away from the wreckage. Under the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

he was exposed to the teachings of Catholic

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

, in particular the

encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally from ...

Rerum novarum ''Rerum novarum'' (from its incipit, with the direct translation of the Latin meaning "of revolutionary change"), or ''Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor'', is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on 15 May 1891. It is an open letter, pass ...

''. Upon graduation, the young Price felt a call to the priesthood, so he went to study abroad, first attending the Saint Augustine's Minor Seminary in Mississippi, United States, and later the Mayor Seminario Conciliar in Guatemala City. Throughout his life Price remained a devout

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and attended

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

daily.Rt. Hon. George Cadle Price – a legend

Krem Radio KREM Radio (call-sign VPM-FM) is a Belize City radio station operating on the F.M. band at 96.5, 91.1 and 101.1 MHz since November 17, 1989. Its headquarters are located at 3304 Partridge Street in Belize City, also the home of the ''Amanda ...

, 24 September 2011. (accessed 9 October 2014) The war in Europe prevented him from completing his studies in Rome and, instead, George Price returned to Belize. He was hired by local businessman Robert Sidney Turton as his private secretary. Price also contributed to the ''Belize Billboard'', then run by

Philip Goldson Philip Stanley Wilberforce Goldson (25 July 1923 – 3 October 2001) was a Belizean newspaper editor, activist and politician. He served in the House of Representatives of Belize as member for the Albert constituency from 1965 to 1998 and twice a ...

Political career

After receiving encouragement from Turton, Price ran for election to the Belize City Council in 1944 and 1947, being successful in 1947. Upon the formation of the People's Committee (PC) in 1950, Price was named its Assistant Secretary, and in a famous speech later that year claimed that "National Unity" propelled the PC's actions. With the formation of the PUP, Price's stature rose and he ascended through the party ranks until he became Party Leader following a leadership dispute in 1956. Elected to the colony's newly created Legislative Assembly in 1954,General Elections 1954

Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission The Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission is the primary electoral body in Belize. It supervises all local and national elections. The commission also establishes the boundaries of Belize's electoral divisions. Formation and duties The EBC w ...

. (accessed 19 November 2014) he also served as mayor of Belize City from 1956 to 1962. In 1956, Price became party leader of the PUP. As First Minister, a post he held since 1961, he led the team which began negotiations over independence with The United Kingdom. He maintained that post as Premier in 1964. In 1981 Belize gained its independence, and Price served as the country's first prime minister and foreign minister until 1984. The PUP was defeated in the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

by the United Democratic Party under

Manuel Esquivel Sir Manuel Amadeo Esquivel (2 May 1940 – 10 February 2022) was a Belizean politician. As leader of the United Democratic Party, he served as Prime Minister from 1984 to 1989, and then again from 1993 to 1998. His party's victory in 1984 was ...

, with Price unexpectedly losing his own

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 ...

seat to a political newcomer.General Election 1984
,

. (accessed 9 October 2014) Price continued to lead the PUP from outside the National Assembly while

Florencio Marin Florencio Marin is a retired Belizean politician. A veteran member of the People's United Party, Marin served as Deputy Prime Minister under George Cadle Price as well as Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Biography Marin entered politics in 19 ...

became

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

.The Right Honourable George Cadle Price
AmbergrisCaye.com. (accessed 9 October 2014) Price resumed the post of prime minister after successfully returning to the House in the 1989 election, serving until 1993, when he was again succeeded by Esquivel. In October 1996 he announced his resignation as party leader, and on 10 November 1996 was formally succeeded by

Said Musa Said Wilbert Musa (, born 19 March 1944) is a Belizean lawyer and politician. He was the Prime Minister of Belize from 28 August 1998 to 8 February 2008. Early life and education Said Wilbert Musa was born in 1944 in San Ignacio in the Cayo ...

. Price remained a member of the Belize House until the 2003 election.

Honours

In September 2000, Price became the first person to receive Belize's highest honour, the Order of National Hero, for the prominent role he played in leading his country to independence. He has received similar honours in other Caribbean and Central American countries. In 1982, he was made a member of the

Privy Council of the United Kingdom The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of e ...

Death

Price died on 19 September 2011, at the age of 92. Almost 30 years earlier he united the people of Belize in the struggle for independence. Now, for one last time Price united all people of Belize, this time in mourning the death of their "

". On 26 September 2011, a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

was held. Price was laid to rest at the Lord's Ridge Cemetery in

References

External links