NATIONAL
HEROES
Cecil Rawle
Cecil Rawle,
born March 27th, 1891, was an activist and founder of Pan-Caribbeanism,
or Caribbean. Dominica’s first national hero, Rawle was born in Roseau
(the island’s Capital) where he was well-educated. His parents moved
from Trinidad to Dominica where his father became the head of the local
branch of the West India and Panama Telegraph Company. After spending
time in London, Rawle went on to practice law in Grenada and Trinidad
before going back to Dominica. At the time there was no elected
representation in the country, which prompted him to establish the
Dominica Representative Government Association. When a new constitution
was signed in 1925, Rawle became representative of Roseau in the first
elected legislature, campaigning as an activist. He also owned the
Dominica Tribune Newspaper. Rawle also was elected chairman of the
predecessor to the West Indies Federation, which was a meeting of
Caribbean nations that came together to discuss political and
socio-economic opportunities. This Federation was important because it
laid the groundwork for the independence movement for the Caribbean
islands.
Jean Rhys
Jean Rhys is a literary hero from Dominica.
She was born in Roseau in 1890. Her father was Welsh, but her mother was
Creole (meaning that she was of mixed West Indian and White/Colonial
descent). She left the island in 1907 to travel to England where she
studied at an all-girls school in Cambridge, and then later at the
Academy of Dramatic Art. She did not return to Dominica until 1936. She
published her first novel in 1924, but her most famous literary work is
called The Wide Sargasso Sea published in 1966, which is
considered to be one of the greatest literary pieces ever written. In
fact, after she published this book, the New York Times Book Review
called her “the best living English Novelist.”
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Updated: 4
April 2008 |
