Olivia "Babsy" Grange , DSE (born 27 April 1946) is a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n politician. She has served as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Saint Catherine Central since

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

and as Jamaica's Minister of Sports, Youth and Culture for the duration of the Jamaica Labour Party government from 2007 to

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport since 2016.

Early life

Grange was born on 27 April 1946 in Luke Lane, West Kingston, Jamaica. Her father was a shoemaker and her mother was a dressmaker. She attended All Saints Primary, Gainstead High, and

Ryerson Polytechnical Institute Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

in Canada.

Career

From 1983 to 1985, Grange served as Government Senator and Parliamentary Secretary for Information and Culture. From 1985 to 1989, she was the Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister. Running as a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate for St. Catherine Central, Grange was elected into parliament in 1997. In 2007, she was appointed as Minister of Information, Youth, Sports & Culture. She is currently the Minister of Sports, Culture, Entertainment and Gender Affairs after the JLP was elected to office in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

. A reggae enthusiast, Grange is also a founding member of the Jamaica Association of Composers, Authors and Publishers (JACAP). She also co-founded Canada's "first black community newspaper", Contrast.

Personal life

Grange has one daughter and three granddaughters.

Recognition

In 1997, Grange was nominated as Woman of the Year in Jamaica. In June 2009, she was named as the Caribbean Community's first Champion for Culture. In 2015, Grange was awarded the rank of Commander (CD) in the Order of Distinction for her contributions to the country's music scene and cultural development. In her capacity as the Gender Minister of Jamaica, she was presented with the annual DUSUSU Awards in 2019 for her contribution to the development of girls affairs in Jamaica, especially tackling the issue of teenage pregnancy. The annual award founded by Girl Education advocate and Film maker - Zuriel Oduwole, recognizes the work of a First Lady and a Gender Minister across the 54 African countries and their diaspora. Olivia Grange became the first recipient of the award, outside of the African continent

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grange, Olivia 1946 births Living people Toronto Metropolitan University alumni Government ministers of Jamaica Members of the House of Representatives of Jamaica Women government ministers of Jamaica 21st-century Jamaican women politicians 21st-century Jamaican politicians 20th-century Jamaican women politicians 20th-century Jamaican politicians Jamaica Labour Party politicians Members of the 12th Parliament of Jamaica Members of the 13th Parliament of Jamaica Members of the 14th Parliament of Jamaica

Early life

Career

Personal life

Recognition

See also

References