Sir Richard Edmonds Luyt (8 November 1915 – 12 February 1994) was the colonial Governor of British Guiana in 1964–66. He installed

Forbes Burnham Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham (20 February 1923 – 6 August 1985) was a Guyanese politician and the leader of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana from 1964 until his death in 1985. He served as Prime Minister of Guyana, Prime Minister from 1964 ...

of the People's National Congress (PNC) as premier of a coalition government with a small business-oriented conservative party in 1964; however, the People's Progressive Party (PPP) came first in the election. Deadly riots ensued when the PPP was not allowed to form the government. Upon independence in May 1966, Sir Richard was sworn in as Governor-General of Guyana, a position which he held until December the same year. Having been born and educated in Cape Town, he returned there in 1967 as principal and vice-chancellor of the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

, a post which he held until 1980. Because of his actions in British Guiana, his appointment was initially opposed by the student body but he soon won them over. During this period, at the height of the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

years in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, academic freedom was under threat and Sir Richard was in the forefront of South African vice-chancellors who fought to protect these freedoms. He also vigorously objected against banning orders and detention without trial of students and staff who protested against apartheid. Sir Richard was an excellent cricketer and rugby player. He obtained a Rugby Blue at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

where he was a Rhodes Scholar and played in three

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

matches for

Oxford University Cricket Club Oxford University Cricket Club (OUCC), which represents the University of Oxford, has always held first-class status since 1827 when it made its debut in the inaugural University Match between OUCC and Cambridge University Cricket Club (CUCC). ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Sir Richard fought against the Italians in Ethiopia and was awarded the

Distinguished Conduct Medal The Distinguished Conduct Medal was a decoration established in 1854 by Queen Victoria for gallantry in the field by other ranks of the British Army. It is the oldest British award for gallantry and was a second level military decoration, ranki ...

. , -

References

LUYT, Sir Richard (Edmonds)
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2016 (online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014) *

External links

1915 births 1994 deaths People from Cape Town History of Guyana Governors of British Guiana Governors-General of Guyana South African knights South African Rhodes Scholars University of Cape Town academics South African Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Recipients of the Distinguished Conduct Medal Oxford University cricketers Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Chief Secretaries of Northern Rhodesia Members of the Legislative Council of Northern Rhodesia Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cape Town {{Guyana-politician-stub