Cheddi Jagan

He married Janet Rosenberg, an American, in August 1943, while living in Chicago. She returned to Guyana with him, where she worked as his dental assistant, and was later heavily involved in his political activities.

He and his wife have two children, Nadira and Cheddi Jr, and five grandchildren

He suffered a heart attack on February 15, 1997, and was flown to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he underwent heart surgery.

He was born on March 22, 1918, on Plantation Port Mourant, British Guiana (now called Guyana). His father was the plantation foreman, and both of his parents were of Indian ancestry.

He received formal education at his father’s insistence. At the age of 15, he enrolled in Queen’s College secondary school in the nation’s capital, Georgetown.

He was unable to find work after high school, prompting him to move to the United States and study dentistry at the age of 18.

He studied at Howard University in Washington, D.C., from 1935 to 1937, taking pre-dental courses.

He attended Northwestern University in Chicago’s dentistry program from 1938 to 1942, before returning to Guyana in October of 1943.

He started practicing dentistry in Georgetown, Guyana in 1943. It was here he first began to make political contacts.

In 1945, he took his first step into politics, as treasurer of a workers union. He did not keep the position for long as he was removed after he objected to some of the union’s practices.

In 1947, he was elected to the British Guianan legislature, in the first election since World War II.

In 1950, he and his wife formed the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Guyana’s first modern political party, with Jagan as its leader.

He became the nation’s first Prime Minister in 1953, under the new British-granted constitution. He was removed from office later the same year, after pushing for radical socioeconomic reforms. The British suspended the constitution and chose an interim government.

He is known for his contribution in liberating Guyana from British colonization and in establishing democracy.

He created the first major political party in Guyana’s history, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP).

He authored several books; these include: 'Forbidden Freedom: The Story of British Guiana' (1954), 'The West On Trial: My Fight for Guyana's Freedom' (1966), 'The Caribbean Revolution' (1979) and 'The Caribbean: Whose Backyard?' (1984).