John Arnott Spence (15 July 1929 – 6 March 2013) was a Vincentian-born

Trinidadian Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The country is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As a ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

, botanist, and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

emeritus. Spence served as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Senator in the

Senate of Trinidad and Tobago The Senate of Trinidad and Tobago is the appointed upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago, along with the President and House of Representatives of Trinidad and Tobago. The Senate currently sits at the Red House. The Sen ...

from 1987 to 2000. Spence was born on 15 July 1929, on the island of Saint Vincent. He moved to Trinidad when he was 11 years old. He attended

Queen's Royal College Queen's Royal College ( St.Clair, Trinidad), referred to for short as QRC, or "The College" by alumni, is a secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago. Originally a boarding school and grammar school, the secular college is selective and noted for it ...

and the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

, where he obtained his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

in botany in 1951. Spence then completed a post-graduate diploma in Agricultural Science at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

in 1952 and a second diploma in Tropical Agriculture in 1953 from the Trinidad Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture in 1953. He earned a doctorate in 1961 from the University of Bristol. Spence served as the head of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of the West Indies in

Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

until his retirement in 1989. He then became the head of the Cocoa Research Unit (CRU), which he is credited with its expansion into an internationally recognized center. Within the field of botany, Spence uncovered the importance of the

polyphenol oxidase Polyphenol oxidase (PPO; also polyphenol oxidase i, chloroplastic), an enzyme involved in fruit browning, is a tetramer that contains four atoms of copper per molecule. PPO may accept monophenols and/or ''o''-diphenols as substrates. The ...

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products ...

, which helps

cocoa pod ''Theobroma cacao'', also called the cacao tree and the cocoa tree, is a small ( tall) evergreen tree in the family Malvaceae. Its seeds, cocoa beans, are used to make chocolate liquor, cocoa solids, cocoa butter and chocolate. The largest pro ...

s resist Phytophthora palmivora, which causes black pod disease. He also developed several varieties of dwarf

pigeon pea The pigeon pea (''Cajanus cajan'') is a perennial legume from the family Fabaceae native to the Old World. The pigeon pea is widely cultivated in tropical and semitropical regions around the world, being commonly consumed in South Asia, South ...

s which can be harvested by machine, instead of by hand. Spence was the recipient of the gold

Chaconia Medal The Chaconia Medal is the second highest state decoration of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Established in 1969, the medal honours long and meritorious service to promote national welfare or community spirit. It is awarded in three classes: ...

in 1980 and the NIHERST Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. He became a fellow of the Fellow of the Caribbean Academy of Science in 1990. John Spence died of a heart attack on 6 March 2013, at the age of 83. He was survived by his wife, Yolande Spence, and their sons, John Malcolm Spence, Louis Spence and Richard Spence. His funeral was held at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Sports and Education Centre in St Augustine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spence, John 1929 births 2013 deaths Trinidad and Tobago botanists Members of the Senate (Trinidad and Tobago) Recipients of the Chaconia Medal Alumni of the University of Bristol Alumni of the University of Cambridge Saint Vincent and the Grenadines emigrants to Trinidad and Tobago People from Saint Vincent (Antilles) University of the West Indies academics Alumni of Queen's Royal College, Trinidad