Captain Arthur Andrew Cipriani (31 January 1875 – 18 April 1945"Capt Arthur Andrew 'Tatoo' Cipriani", Find A Grave.
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Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

labour leader The ''Labour Leader'' was a British socialist newspaper published for almost one hundred years. It was later renamed ''New Leader'' and ''Socialist Leader'', before finally taking the name ''Labour Leader'' again. 19th century The origins of th ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

. He served as mayor of

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a muni ...

, elected member of the Legislative Council, leader of the Trinidad Workingmen's Association (TWA) and founder of the Trinidad Labour Party.

Early life

Arthur Andrew Cipriani was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1875 one of three sons of Albert Henry Cipriani, a planter from Santa Cruz. The Cipriani family were a

White Trinidadian White Trinidadians and Tobagonians (sometimes Euro-Trinidadians and Tobagonians or local-whites) are Trinidadians of European descent. However, while the term White Trinidadian is used to refer collectively to all Caucasians who are Trinidadian, ...

family of Corsican descent. In his biography, author and historian C. L. R. James describes the Cipriani family as "closely related" to the

Bonaparte family Italian and Corsican: ''Casa di Buonaparte'', native_name_lang=French, coat of arms=Arms of the French Empire3.svg, caption=Coat of arms assumed by Emperor Napoleon I, image_size=150px, alt=Coat of Arms of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, typ ...

. Cipriani's father died when he was very young, and after the death of his mother from

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over severa ...

when he was six, he was raised by his paternal aunt. He attended

St. Mary's College Saint Mary's College (in French, ''Collège Sainte-Marie''), is the name of several colleges and schools: Australia *St Mary's College, Ipswich, an all-girls Catholic school in Queensland *St Mary's College, Maryborough, a co-educational school i ...

in Port of Spain between the ages of seven and 16. After leaving school, Cipriani tuned down the opportunity to train as a veterinarian. Instead, he to work as a jockey and racehorse trainer, and was elected secretary of the Trinidad Breeders' Association. In addition, he was worked on the cocoa estates belonging to relatives and family friends.

World War I

He was involved with recruiting soldiers at the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and was subsequently made a captain with the

British West Indies Regiment The British West Indies Regiment was a unit of the British Army during the First World War, formed from volunteers from British colonies in the West Indies. Formation In 1915 the British Army formed a second West Indies regiment from Caribbean ...

, leaving for the front in 1917.Biography of Arthur Andrew Cipriani (1875-1945), NALIS, Trinidad and Tobago.

Post-war

Impressed by how the West Indians adapted to the business of modern war, he concluded that the West Indian people were capable of self-government. On his return to Trinidad he became a leader not just to the ex-soldiers but to labourers as well, his followers being both working-class Afro-Trinidadians and Indi-Trinidadians. In 1919, he was elected President of the Soldiers and Sailors Union, an organization that promoted the interests of the ex-servicemen. He also joined the Trinidad Workingmen's Association (TWA), of which he became president in 1923. Under his leadership, the TWA increased its membership and political influence, becoming the main organization through which workers grievances were articulated.

Elected office

From 1926 to 1941, Cipriani was a Port of Spain City Councillor and was elected Mayor on eight occasions. In 1925, he was elected as a representative to the Trinidad and Tobago Legislative Council and served as a member for Port of Spain until his death in 1945. In 1934, Cipriani helped to rename the TWA as the Trinidad Labour Party.

Later life and legacy

He died on 18 April 1945 and was buried in Lapeyrouse Cemetery, Port of Spain. C. L. R. James wrote ''The Life of Captain Cipriani: An Account of British Government in the West Indies'', which was published in 1932 with financial assistance of the Trinidadian cricket player Learie Constantine. An abridged version was published as ''The Case for West Indian Self-Government'' by Leonard and

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born ...

Hogarth Press The Hogarth Press is a book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House that was founded as an independent company in 1917 by British authors Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf. It was named after their house in Richmond (then in Surrey and n ...

in 1933. A statue in memory of Cipriani was unveiled on 17 April 1959 in Port of Spain by

Eric Williams Eric Eustace Williams (25 September 1911 – 29 March 1981) was a Trinidad and Tobago politician who is regarded by some as the " Father of the Nation", having led the then British Colony of Trinidad and Tobago to majority rule on 28 October ...

, who declared on the occasion: “Captain Cipriani is the pioneer of the nationalist movement of Trinidad and Tobago. With the unveiling of this statue we commemorate our own historical development, our own positive action, our own native history made by native hands, and the aspiration of our native peoples.” The

Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies The Cipriani College of Labour and Cooperative Studies (CCLCS) is a public university located in Trinidad and Tobago. The CCLCS was established in 1966 and its main campus is located in Valsayn but there are satellite locations in San Fernando a ...

is named after him.

References

External links

Biography of Arthur Andrew Cipriani (1875-1945)
NALIS, Trinidad and Tobago.
"Cap't Andrew Arthur Cipriani, Soldier"
''LimeLight Magazine''.
Genealogy of "Arthur Andrew 'Tattoo' Cipriani, Captain"
Geni. * Nasser Khan
"Legendary Labour Leaders"
''Trinidad and Tobago Guardian Online'', 20 June 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cipriani, Arthur Andrew 1875 births 1945 deaths British West Indies Regiment soldiers Mayors of Port of Spain Members of the Legislative Council of Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago people of French descent Trinidad and Tobago trade unionists Trinidad Labour Party politicians Racehorse trainers