Gertrude Roberts (September 16, 1930 – November 6, 2019) was an educator and politician in

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

Life

She was born in

Delices Delices is a small village in Dominica. It is located in the south-east of the island, between La Plaine and Petite Savanne. The village's name derives from the French words ''délices'', translated as "delights", or ''délice'' meaning "a deligh ...

and received her national teacher's certificate in 1952. She pursued further studies, completing an advanced certificate at the

Leeward Islands french: Îles-Sous-le-Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Leeward Islands. Clockwise: Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Saint kitts and Nevis. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean SeaNorth Atlantic Ocean , coor ...

Teacher's College and earning a certificate in educational studies from the

University of Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick univer ...

's Institute of Education. She taught and was principal at various schools across Dominica. She also served as program coordinator for the National Council of Women for Dominica. Roberts received a National Service Award in 1973. In 1979, she helped form the "Pickaxe Brigade" to assist with reconstruction following

Hurricane David Hurricane David was an extremely deadly hurricane which caused massive loss of life in the Dominican Republic in August 1979, and was the most intense hurricane to make landfall in the country in recorded history. A Cape Verde hurricane that rea ...

. Roberts was elected in the district of Morne Jaune/ Riviere Cyrique in 1990, in 1995 and in 2000. When the United Workers' Party won the 1995 general election, she was named Minister of Community Development and Women's Affairs, a post she held until 2000. She had six children, and her daughter Gretta Roberts was elected to represent her former district in December 2019.

References

1930 births 2019 deaths Members of the House of Assembly of Dominica United Workers' Party (Dominica) politicians {{Dominica-politician-stub