George Brizan

George Ignatius Brizan , CMG , CBE (born October 31, 1942 in Saint David ; † February 18, 2012 in St. George’s ) was a politician on Grenada ( National Democratic Congress ) and historian .

life and career

Brizan was born in Saint David on October 31, 1942 . He attended St. Dominic's Roman Catholic Primary School and Presentation Brothers College , and Grenada Teachers College . He studied Education , Economics and History at the University of the West Indies ( Certificate of Education ), the University of Calgary ( Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in History and Economics) and Carlton University (Master of Arts in International Economic Relations).

Between 1963 and 1984 he worked in the Grenada civil service, focusing on education and training. He began his public service work as a teacher at the Grenada Boys' Secondary School (GBSS) and later became a lecturer and Vice-Principal of the Institute for Further Education (IFE), now TA Marryshow Community College . In the position of Chief Education Officer he worked in the Ministry of Education of Grenada. Since the late 1960s he served in every government in Grenada. When he became an advisor to the Treasury Department of Keith Mitchell's government in the 1990s , he became the only former Prime Minister to date to serve in a subsequent government.

In the 1970s he was a member of the New Jewel Movement . He returned to him as a Government Education Administrator before the coup.

Brizan was also active as a writer and lectured on the history of the island. He wrote Grenada: Island of Conflict , which is considered groundbreaking work on the history of Grenada. It covers the period from the European settlements in the 17th century to the coup in 1983 and the subsequent US invasion of Grenada . The Nutmeg Industry - Grenada's Black Gold dealt with the cultivation of nutmeg in Grenada. He was considered a role model for numerous students. It was not uncommon for students to say they wanted to become a “Brizan” (an economist / historian).

He entered politics in 1984 and was elected to the House of Representatives for three consecutive terms , initially for the New National Party . Brizan was one of the founders of the National Democratic Party (NDP) in 1984 , which in the same year united with three other parties ( Grenada National Party by Herbert Blaize and the Grenada Democratic Movement by Francis Alexis ) to form the New National Party. He became a minister after the December 1984 elections. In April 1987, George Brizan and another minister, Francis Alexis, resigned and left the NNP to form the New Democratic Congress (NDC). Brizan took the chair. Under Nicholas Brathwaite , the NDC won the parliamentary elections in 1990. This had succeeded Brizan as NDC chairman.

Brizan held several ministerial offices. Initially he was Minister of Finance. On April 27, 1992 he became Minister of Agriculture. He was also Minister for Trade, Industry, Production and Energy (in both positions). In July 1994, Braithwaite resigned from the party leadership and Brizan was elected as his successor on September 4, 1994 at a party congress. As the successor to Brathwaite, George Brizan became Prime Minister on February 1, 1995 and also took over the ministries of foreign and national security, home affairs, agriculture and human resources and management. However, he had to give up his office after the election victory of the NNP in June 1995. On June 22, 1995 Keith Mitchell was his successor; he had attended Presentation Boys College with him . Brizan's party had come under fire from voters for reintroducing personal income taxes and implementing tough economic measures to offset high foreign debt, reduced US aid and lower farm incomes.

He was also president of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Council of Ministers of the Lomé Convention and chairman ( chairman ) of the Standing Committee of Caribbean Community Ministers responsible for Agriculture .

In the 1999 general election, Brizan's party lost all seats. He had been opposition leader since 1995 at the time. According to his own testimony, differences of opinion within the party had damaged its image. At that time he was already suffering from health problems. He then withdrew from active politics, but remained a respected expert.

Working in public

His work in education was highly regarded by students.

Brizan was considered a very popular minister of agriculture among farmers and the ministry of agriculture staff who worked there during his tenure. He trusted in the potential of nutmeg cultivation for the economic development of the country. But that didn't meet with much approval.

During his tenure as finance minister, he introduced a structural adjustment program between 1991 and 1994. When Grenada came to power in 1990, it was not creditworthy. World prices for nutmegs collapsed in 1991. The country was facing an economic crisis. The structural adjustment program, while not popular, proved necessary. The Ministry of Finance was professionalized during this time by hiring qualified university graduates and employees; creditworthiness has been restored. Grenada also benefited from development aid from the European Union . After his tenure, Brizan assisted the Keith Mitchell administration in resuming good relations with the EU. He also supported the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines .

In 2005 his last book, She Stood Alone , was published, which he wrote with his daughter Jean Brizan . It is about the contribution of Grenadine women in building the nation.

Honors

In 1971 he was honored with a post-graduate fellowship from the University of Calgary . He became a Norman Paterson Fellow at Carlton University in 1974 . Brizan received the Canadian International Development Research Center Award in 1981 .

In the 2009 New Year Honors , he was named Commander of the Order of the British Empire . He is also Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George .

Family and death

Brizan married Jean, a former teacher and employee of the Department of Education. They have four children together.

He died on February 18, 2012 in St. George’s General Hospital at the age of 69 after a lengthy illness. He suffered from diabetes . At last he threatened to go blind.

Publications

• Free trade and the British West Indian sugar industry: an analysis of the Sugar Duties Act of 1846 and its effect on the sugar industry of Jamaica and Barbados , Verlag unknown, 1972, ISBN unknown (dissertation)
• Canada and the Commonwealth Caribbean economic relations, 1966-1974 , publisher unknown, 1975, ISBN unknown (dissertation)
• The Development of the Labor Movement in Grenada , publisher unknown, 1975, ISBN unknown
• The indentured immigration scheme to Grenada, 1835-1895 , publisher unknown, 1976, ISBN unknown
• Inflation, the millstone around the worker's neck (Trade Union Council publication) , Grenada Publishers, 1977, ISBN unknown
• The People's Tribune (newspaper, 1978)
• The Nutmeg Industry- Grenada's Black Gold , publisher unknown, 1979, ISBN unknown
• Grenada's Constitutional History - A Brief Sketch , publisher unknown, 1979, ISBN unknown
• The Grenadian peasantry and social revolution, 1930-51 (Working paper) , Institute of Social and Economic Research, 1979, ISBN unknown
• Recent Educational Reform in Grenada, 1979-81 , publisher unknown, 1981, ISBN unknown
• Creole and Immigrant-Aspects of Nineteenth Century Grenadian Society , publisher unknown, 1981, ISBN unknown
• The Fedon Rebellion of 1795-96 , publisher unknown, 1982, ISBN unknown
• The Education Reform Process , publisher unknown, 1982, ISBN unknown
• Grenada - Island of Conflict: From Amerindians to Peoples' Revolution, 1498-1979 , Zed Books, 1984, ISBN 978-0-86232-230-4
• Performance of the Tourism Sector - First Six Months of 1985 , St. George's, 1985, ISBN unknown
• Address to the nation , Minister of Agriculture and Tourism, 1985, ISBN unknown
• A testing time for all: The first year in government , United States Government Printing Office , 1986, ISBN unknown
• Development of the fisheries sector , publisher unknown, 1986, ISBN unknown
• Autocracy, Repression and the Emergency Powers Act of 1987 , publisher unknown, 1987, ISBN unknown
• The agony of a Caribbean micro-state: Grenada in the 1970s, 1980s and beyond , publisher unknown, 1989, ISBN unknown
• Education and human resource wastage: Grenada's situation , publisher unknown, 1989, ISBN unknown
• They labored in the vineyard: glimpses into Catholicism & Christianity in Grenada , publisher unknown, 1997, ISBN unknown
• Neo-Mercantilism & the export of wealth , publisher unknown, 1997, ISBN unknown
• Greatness through service to humanity: the English Dominicans in Grenada, 1901-2001 , publisher unknown, 2001, ISBN unknown
• Grenada: Fortitude and the Human Condition , CL Financial Limited, 2001, ISBN 978-976-8173-56-0 (with Kwamina Brizan )
• Brave Young Grenadians: Loyal British Subjects: Our People in the First and Second World Wars , G. Brizan, 2002, ISBN 978-976-8054-53-1
• Education & productive work during the regime of the People's Revolutionary Government, Grenada, 1979-1983 , publisher unknown, 2003, ISBN unknown
• Black Gold Revisited: 22 years later: 2001 , publisher unknown, 2003, ISBN unknown
• St. George's: the prettiest town in the West Indies , publisher unknown, 2004, ISBN unknown (with Michael Jessamy )
• She Stood Alone: ​​a tribute to the Grenadian woman , publisher unknown, 2005, ISBN unknown (with Jean Brizan )
• Policy Framework paper: Grenada's successful home-grown three-year structural adjustment program 1992-1994 , publisher unknown, 2005, ISBN unknown
• The Development of the Labor Movement in Grenada, 1940-60: a preliminary analysis , publisher unknown, year of publication unknown, ISBN unknown
• The Question of Foreign Economic Penetration , publisher unknown, year of publication unknown, ISBN unknown
• Why the National Democratic Party is Opposed to Communism , publisher unknown, year of publication unknown, ISBN unknown

Web links

• Biography on the government website
• Article at the Agency for Rural Transformation (ART)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ George Brizan, Grenada Leader and Party Founder, Dies at 69 New York Times death report , February 20, 2012
2. ↑ May 1988 - Internal political and economic developments ", Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 34, May, 1988 Grenada, page 35888
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Political Parties of the World (6th edition, 2005), editor Bogdan Szajkowski , page 265
4. ↑ "April 1992 - GRENADA", Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 38, April, 1992 Grenada, page 38861
5. ↑ September 1994 - New ruling party leader, "Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 40, September, 1994 Grenada, page 40176
6. ^ February 1995 - New Prime Minister - Government changes, "Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 41, February, 1995 Grenada, page 40402.
7. ↑ ^{a b} George Brizan | Ex-Grenada leader, 69 death report on philly.com from February 20, 2012
8. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n} Agency for Rural Transformation (ART) Remembers George Brizan  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Obituary of ART from February 25, 2012  
9. ↑ PRIME MINISTER CONGRATULATES APPOINTEES  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Press release on spicewriter.wordpress from January 2nd, 2009  
10. ↑ The SpiceIslander TalkShop ( memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. News from Brizan's activity as a writer dated February 19, 2012