Stephen Campbell was an

Arawak The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greater ...

an Guyanese politician and political activist, and the first

Amerindian The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...

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 ...

in Guyanese history.

Biography

Stephen Joseph Campbell was born to Tiburtio A. Campbell and his wife, Maria dos Santos, in

Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca *Santa Rosa, La Pampa * Sa ...

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

, on 26 December 1897. Both of Campbell's parents died when he was young, and he was subsequently raised by his grandmother. He was brought up as a devout

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He studied at

Mission School, and subsequently worked for many years as a teacher and as a

catechist Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...

in various regions of Guyana. Campbell married Umbelina Da Silva on 9 February 1928. On 10 September 1957, Campbell became the first Amerindian

in Guyanese history, when he was elected onto the Legislative Council of British Guiana. He subsequently joined the National Labour Front. In 1961, Campbell changed parties to

The United Force The United Force is a conservative and economically liberal political party in Guyana. It currently has no representation in the National Assembly and is led by Marissa Nadir. History Established on 5 October 1960 by Peter D'Aguiar, and was i ...

. In 1964, he became Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs. Campbell went to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

for medical treatment, and died there on 12 May 1966, just two weeks before Guyana won

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

from Great Britain. He was buried in Canada.

Legacy

Campbell is widely regarded as a hero by Amerindian communities in Guyana, and his achievements are celebrated on 10 September every year as a part of Amerindian Heritage Month. Campbelltown has been named after Stephen Campbell. In 2018, the building of the Ministry of Citizenship was renamed after Campbell.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Stephen Indigenous people of South America History of Guyana Guyanese people of Arawak descent Guyanese politicians People from Barima-Waini 1897 births 1966 deaths British Guiana people