Moses Veerasammy Nagamootoo (

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

: மோசஸ் வீராசாமி நாகமுத்து; born 30 November 1947) is a Guyanese

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

who served as the Prime Minister of Guyana under former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

David A. Granger David Arthur Granger (born 15 July 1945) is a Guyanese former politician and retired military officer who served as the ninth president of Guyana from 2015 to 2020. A member of the People’s National Congress (PNC), he previously served as Com ...

from May 2015 to August 2020.

Life and career

Nagamootoo was born in the village of Whim, Berbice,

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

, in the present-day region of East Berbice-Corentyne, in present-day

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

. He is of

Indian descent. Nagamootoo worked as a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, and later became a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

. After high school, he co-founded the De Edwards/Rosignal High School in the late 1960s. There he taught mainly economics and British Constitution with great passion and enthusiasm, which were new subjects to the aspiring students in the West Coast Berbice, Guyana area. One of his students went on to major as a PhD in economics and now teaches that subject at the University of California, Berkeley Extension, California, US. He was elected to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in 1992 as a People's Progressive Party MP and subsequently served as Minister of Information and Minister of Local Government. He remained in Cabinet under the presidencies of Cheddi Jagan, Samuel Hinds, Janet Jagan and

Bharrat Jagdeo Bharrat Jagdeo (born 23 January 1964) is a Guyana, Guyanese politician who has been serving as Vice President of Guyana since 2020, in the administration of President of Guyana, President Irfaan Ali. He had previously also held the office from 19 ...

. He resigned as Minister in 2000 but remained an MP until 2011, when he resigned from the PPP, having first joined in 1964. As a leader of the PPP, Nagamootoo received the fifth-highest number of votes (595) in the election to the PPP Central Committee at its 29th Congress on August 2, 2008. Nagamootoo was rumoured to be a potential PPP candidate for president in 2011; however, he resigned from the party on October 24, 2011, citing the need for "more ideas and a new conversation about Guyana's economic and foreign policy future". He joined the opposition Alliance For Change (AFC) in October 2011 and was re-elected to Parliament. Following the opposition's victory in the May 2015 general election, Nagamootoo was sworn in as prime minister and first vice-president on 20 May 2015. Nagamootoo briefly took charge of presidential duties on 12 June 2015 while President

was visiting the United States.

As a writer

Moses Nagamootoo is the author of the novel ''Hendree's Cure'' (2001), which describes a world of Tamil fishermen who inhabited the Corentyne village of Whim in the 1950s and 1960s.

References

External links

(Paywalled) Article on one of Nagamootoo's novels
in Callaloo.
Article on Nagamootoo
in

Stabroek News The ''Stabroek News'' is a privately owned newspaper published in Guyana. It takes its name from ''Stabroek'' , the former name of Georgetown, Guyana. It was first published in November 1986, first as a weekly but it later changed to a daily pri ...

Article on Nagamootoo
in Stabroek News
Author information
at

Peepal Tree Press Peepal Tree Press is a publisher based in Leeds, England which publishes Caribbean, Black British, and South Asian fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama and academic books. Poet Kwame Dawes has said: "Peepal Tree Press's position as the leading pu ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagamootoo, Moses 1947 births 21st-century novelists Government ministers of Guyana Guyanese novelists Guyanese politicians of Indian descent Living people Members of the National Assembly (Guyana) People from East Berbice-Corentyne People's Progressive Party (Guyana) politicians Prime ministers of Guyana Vice presidents of Guyana People of Tamil descent