Herbert Augustus Blaize
PC (26 February 1918 – 19 December 1989) was a
Grenadian politician and leader of the
Grenada National Party
The Grenada National Party (GNP) was a conservative and economically liberal political party in Grenada that existed from 1955 to 1984, when it merged into the New National Party. It alternated in power with the Grenada United Labour Party (GULP ...
. When Grenada was still a British Crown Colony he served as the first
Chief Minister from 1960 to 1961, and again from 1962 to 1967. He became the first Premier of the autonomous Associated State of Grenada briefly in 1967. In the first elections following the 1983 coups and the
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
-led
invasion of Grenada
The United States invasion of Grenada began at dawn on 25 October 1983. The United States and a coalition of six Caribbean nations invaded the island nation of Grenada, north of Venezuela. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury by the U.S. military, ...
, he served as Prime Minister from 1984 until his death in 1989.
Early years
Blaize was born in the island of
Carriacou, which along with the island of
Petite Martinique is a part of Grenada. He moved to
Aruba
Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...
where he worked many 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 ...
.
Grenada National Party
In 1953 he formed the Grenada National Party as a rival party to the
Grenada United Labour Party of
Eric Gairy, who would be Blaize's main political rival for the next 25 years. Blaize entered the legislature in 1957 and became Minister of Trade and Production.
Chief Minister and Premier
He was appointed as Chief Minister in 1960 and held the additional portfolio of
finance
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
. He lost power to Gairy in 1961, and was reappointed in 1962 after Gairy was dismissed. In 1967 Grenada became an associated state within the British Empire, gaining more internal self-government. Soon afterwards, Blaize lost power and Gairy began a long tenure as Prime Minister. He was the
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 ...
in the
House of Representatives of Grenada
The Parliament of Grenada is composed of the monarch and two chambers: Senate and the House of Representatives. It operates from the New Parliament Building in St. George's.
Structure
Parliament consists of the King, represented by the Gove ...
from 1974 to 1976.
In Opposition
In 1976 Blaize's center-right National Party joined forces with the left-wing
New Jewel Movement led by
Maurice Bishop for the elections that year, which Gairy and the GULP won. The alliance between Blaize and Bishop ended by 1979 when Bishop seized power. Blaize retired from politics and moved back to Carriacou, until after the intervention by the United States in 1983.
Prime Minister
During the election campaign of 1984, Blaize merged his parties with several other center-right parties to form the
New National Party, which took 14 of 15 seats in the election. He was sworn in on 4 December 1984 and his Cabinet was announced 11 days later.
In addition to being Prime Minister, Blaize became Minister of Home Affairs, Security, Information,
Finance
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
, Trade, Planning, Industrial Development and
Carriacou and
Petite Martinique Affairs.
Blaize's government advocated a strong economic and military alliance for Grenada with the United States, and other overseas investment. Blaize was often criticized for being authoritarian.
Death
He died in December 1989 near
St. George's, Grenada
St. George's (Grenadian Creole French: ''Sen Jòj'') is the capital of Grenada. The town is surrounded by a hillside of an old volcano crater and is located on a horseshoe-shaped harbour.
St. George's is a popular Caribbean tourist destinatio ...
, following a several-years-long battle with
prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...
, aged 71. Two days before his death, Blaize had been elected the first party leader of the newly formed
National Party.
Family
Herbert Blaize was survived by his wife,
Dame Venetia Blaize,
DBE (née Venetia Ursula Davidson); three daughters, Norma Blaize (a former Consul-General of Grenada in New York), Carol Jerome and Marion Fleary; three sons, Samuel Blaize, Marvin Blaize and Christopher Blaize. He was also survived by a sister, Muriel Noel.
[''Ebony'' magazine article on Blaize family]
/ref>
References
Sources
* ''LA GRENADE : mort du premier ministre.'', Le Monde. Jeudi 21 décembre 1989, p. 3; accessed October 7, 2006.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blaize, Herbert
1918 births
1989 deaths
Deaths from prostate cancer
Prime Ministers of Grenada
Finance ministers of Grenada
Industry ministers of Grenada
Information ministers of Grenada
Interior ministers of Grenada
Members of the House of Representatives of Grenada
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
New National Party (Grenada) politicians
Carriacouan politicians
Grenada National Party politicians
The National Party politicians
Deaths from cancer in Grenada
20th-century Grenadian politicians