Sir Nicholas Alexander Brathwaite OBE (8 July 1925 – 28 October 2016) was the head of government of

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pet ...

for two periods, first as Chairman of the Interim Advisory Council (1983 to 1984) established after the

United States 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, ...

, and latterly as

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 ...

from 1990 to 1995. Brathwaite was born in

Carriacou Carriacou is an island of the Grenadine Islands. It is a dependency of Grenada, and is located in the south-eastern Caribbean Sea, northeast of the island Grenada and the north coast of South America. The name is derived from the Carib lang ...

, Grenada. He got education from Teacher's Training College in Trinidad and

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the ...

in Jamaica. Following the 1983

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 ...

, Brathwaite, a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), was appointed by Governor-General Sir Paul Scoon to reestablish the Grenadian government. Brathwaite became prime minister and chairman of the advisory council in December 1983, when American troops withdrew. He led Grenada's return to democracy, and served as prime minister for a year, until his party lost the December 1984 elections. Brathwaite was elected as the leader of the NDC in 1989. The NDC won the 1990 elections, and he served as prime minister again from March 1990 to February 1995. He also held the portfolio of

finance minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

. He also served as

foreign minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

during some of that time. He resigned shortly before the 1995 elections, which the NDC lost. He was appointed an OBE in 1975 and was knighted in 1995. He died on 28 October 2016 at the age of 91.

References

1925 births 2016 deaths Prime Ministers of Grenada Finance ministers of Grenada Members of the House of Representatives of Grenada Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Government ministers of Grenada National Democratic Congress (Grenada) politicians Foreign ministers of Grenada Knights Bachelor Officers of the Order of the British Empire Politicians awarded knighthoods Carriacouan politicians University of the West Indies alumni 20th-century Grenadian politicians {{Grenada-politician-stub