Sir Alfred Étienne Jérôme Dupuch, OBE, KSG (16 February 1899 – 23 August 1991) was a Bahamian journalist and politician. He was editor of '' The Nassau Tribune'' from 1919 to 1973 and served in the Bahamian

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

for 24 years. Dupuch was named as the 'longest serving newspaper editor' by the ''

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''.

Early life

He was born Alfred Etienne Jerome Dupuch to Leon and Harriet (née Saunders) Dupuch. Etienne's mother died in 1909 giving birth to a stillborn daughter. Etienne's father, Leon, founder of the

Tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the Tribune of the Plebs, tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs ac ...

newspaper, died five years later in 1914 when young Dupuch was 15 years old.

Military service

Dupuch enlisted in the West Indies Regiment, aged 17 and saw action in Egypt, Belgium, France and Italy.

Political life

Dupuch served as a Member of Parliament in the Bahamian

from 1925 to 1942 and from 1949 to 1956, as a Member of the Legislative Council from 1960-1964 and as Senator from 1964 to 1968. In 1956, Dupuch, together with his younger brother Eugene, introduced the first comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation in the colony's history, to outlaw racial discrimination in hotels, restaurants and other public places at a time when the country's tourist industry was experiencing dramatic growth. During his time in office, he was opposed to the nascent

Progressive Liberal Party The Progressive Liberal Party (abbreviated PLP) is a populist and social liberal party in the Bahamas. Philip Davis is the leader of the party. History The PLP was founded in 1953 by William Cartwright, Cyril Stevenson, and Henry Milton ...

believing that Bahamians should pursue a middle way to resolve the political differences that existed at the time between blacks and whites.

Newspaper career

Dupuch began his newspaper career as a boy by delivering the

on roller-skates through Nassau's 'over the hill' ghetto areas. He took over the editorship after serving as a soldier in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Newspaper slogan

Dupuch kept faith with the slogan "''Being Bound to Swear to the Dogmas of No Master''" that had been used by his father, Leon Dupuch, when the latter launched ''The Tribune'' as a four-page newspaper in 1903. The slogan had been originally used in the Bahamas by John Wells, a loyalist who started the first Bahamian newspaper, ''The Gazette'' and whose descendant, Lisa Wells, founded the country's first news website, BahamasB2B.com, in 2000.

Editorials

Dupuch was known for strong editorials on his political positions. For years, Dupuch was at odds with Nassau's ruling white élite, the Bay Street Boys, and called out the

Duke of Windsor Duke of Windsor was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 8 March 1937 for the former monarch Edward VIII, following his Abdication of Edward VIII, abdication on 11 December 1936. The Duchy, dukedom takes its name from ...

during his five-year rule (1940-1945) as

Governor of the Bahamas This is a list of governors of the Bahamas. The first English settlement in the Bahamas was on Eleuthera. In 1670, the king granted the Bahamas to the lords proprietors of the Province of Carolina, but the islands were left to themselves. The lo ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. While Dupuch served as editor, the newspaper published a book in 1959 on the unsolved 1943 murder of Sir

Harry Oakes Sir Harry Oakes, 1st Baronet (23 December 1874 – 8 July 1943) was a British gold mine owner, entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. He earned his fortune in Canada and moved to the Bahamas in the 1930s for tax purposes. Though American by b ...

. Dupuch's powerful editorials were required reading among discerning Bahamians for many decades.

Legacy and retirement

Many prominent Bahamian journalists learned their craft under his tutelage, including Sir Arthur Foulkes, former

Governor-General of the Bahamas Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

from 2012 to 2014. In the late 1960s, when he retired from the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, Dupuch was described by a fellow Senator, Doris Johnson, as "a pesky pimple on the body politic of the Bahamas", a quote he insisted on using in the Tribune's headline the following day. Dupuch published a 1967 book, ''The Tribune Story'', about his struggle to keep his paper afloat in the face of enormous odds. In 1972, aged 73, Dupuch handed control of the ''

'' to his daughter Eileen, a qualified

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and graduate of Columbia University journalism school, who remains its publisher to the present day. Among Dupuch's other protégés were Oswald Brown, who went on to become managing editor of both '' The Nassau Guardian'' and ''The Freeport News'', and John Marquis, the award-winning

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

journalist who worked as a political reporter on both ''The Nassau Guardian'' and ''The Tribune'' in the 1960s, and returned to the Bahamas in 1999 as the Tribune's Managing Editor. During Marquis's ten years as Managing Editor, the

enjoyed a dramatic surge in circulation. It also became embroiled in a string of controversies. Its exposure of a scandal involving the American cover girl

Anna Nicole Smith Vickie Lynn Marshall (née Hogan; November 28, 1967 – February 8, 2007), known professionally as Anna Nicole Smith, was an American model, actress, and television personality. Smith started her career as a ''Playboy'' magazine centerfold in M ...

was blamed for the fall of the

government in 2007. Like Dupuch before him, Marquis was targeted by mass street protests outside the Tribune's offices. Dupuch was listed among the three greatest Bahamians of the 20th century in a millennium poll in the year 2000.

Honour and awards

Dupuch was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in 1949 and was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in 1965. He also received a papal knighthood from

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

( Order of St Gregory the Great). In 1988, he was recognised by St John's University with the Alumni Achievement Award.

Death

Dupuch died on 23 August 1991, aged 92, after catching on fire in the garden of his home in Camperdown,

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of ...

while trying to destroy an ants' nest.