Janet Jagan
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| Janet Rosalie Jagan (née Rosenberg) | |
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| In office 19 December 1997 – 11 August 1999 |
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| Prime Minister | Sam Hinds Bharrat Jagdeo |
| Preceded by | Sam Hinds |
| Succeeded by | Bharrat Jagdeo |
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| In office 06 March 1997 – 19 December 1997 |
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| President | Sam Hinds |
| Preceded by | Sam Hinds |
| Succeeded by | Sam Hinds |
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| Born | 20 October 1920 Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Political party | PPP |
| Spouse | Cheddi Jagan |
| Religion | Judaism |
Janet Rosalie Jagan (née Rosenberg on 20 October 1920) was President of Guyana from 19 December 1997 to 11 August 1999, and previously served as Prime Minister from 17 March 1997 to 19 December 1997.
She was born to a Jewish, middle-class family in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. In December 1942, while working as a student nurse at Cook County Hospital, she met Cheddi Jagan, an Indo-Guyanese dentistry student at Northwestern University. They married in 1943 and she moved with him to Guyana[1] in December 1943; she took part in labour activism along with her husband and joined the British Guiana Labour Union. She worked in her husband's dental clinic as a nurse for 10 years.[2]
Janet Jagan unsuccessfully ran for a seat from Central Georgetown in the 1947 election.[2] On January 1, 1950,[3] she and her husband were co-founders of the left-wing People's Progressive Party (PPP);[1][2][3] Janet served as the PPP's General Secretary from 1950 to 1970.[1][2]
The PPP, a socialist party, opposed British colonial rule of Guyana. After an electoral victory, the PPP briefly formed the government, but the British government had the PPP government removed in 1953, and Cheddi and Janet were jailed for five months; they were subsequently kept under house arrest for two years.[1]
During her long political career, Janet Jagan served as a Member of Parliament and as Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Labor, Minister of Health, and Minister of Housing.[1]
After Cheddi Jagan's death, Janet Jagan was sworn in as Prime Minister as well as First Vice President on March 17, 1997.[2][4] Jagan was the presidential candidate of the PPP in the December 1997 election. After the PPP won the election, she became the second female President in the history of South America (after Isabel Perón of Argentina) and the first to be democratically elected. In the Guyanese context, Janet not only became the first female President of Guyana, but she was also the first U.S.-born and Caucasian woman to lead the nation.
On July 1, 1999, after Jagan returned from the European-Latin American summit in Rio de Janeiro, she was admitted to St. Joseph's Mercy Hospital in Georgetown due to chest pains and exhaustion. She was treated for a heart condition and released from the hospital on July 3.[5] Later in the month, she underwent tests regarding her heart condition at Akron City Hospital in the U.S. city of Akron, Ohio; she was discharged on July 23.[6] Returning to Guyana, she received heart medication and was told that bypass surgery was not necessary.[7]
Jagan announced on August 8, 1999 that she was resigning as President because her health meant that she was no longer capable of "vigorous, strong leadership"; she said that Finance Minister Bharrat Jagdeo would be her successor.[8] Jagdeo was sworn in as President on August 11.[9]
Being both Marxist and Jewish, she was the subject of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories in the United States; there were false reports that she is related to Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.
Janet Jagan has long been involved with the literary and cultural life of Guyana. She published early Martin Carter poems in Thunder (which she edited) and supported the publication of early Carter collections such as The Hill of Fire Glows Red. She had long been a teller of stories to her children and grandchildren and was strongly concerned that Guyanese children should have books that reflected themselves. In 1993 Peepal Tree Press published her When Grandpa Cheddi was a Boy and Other Stories, followed by Patricia, the Baby Manatee (1995), Anastasia the Ant-Eater (1997) and The Dog Who Loved Flowers.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Larry Rohter, "A Guyana Favorite: U.S.-Born Grandmother", The New York Times, December 14, 1997.
- ^ a b c d e Profile of Janet Jagan, jagan.org.
- ^ a b History of the PPP, PPP website.
- ^ "Janet Jagan Sworn In", The Washington Post, March 18, 1997, page A14.
- ^ "Guyanese president discharged from hospital", Associated Press (nl.newsbank.com), July 4, 1999.
- ^ "Guyana's president leaves U.S. hospital", Associated Press (nl.newsbank.com), July 24, 1999.
- ^ "GUYANA LEADER FIT AFTER AKRON CARE", The Plain Dealer (nl.newsbank.com), August 3, 1999.
- ^ "Guyanese president resigns for health reasons", Associated Press (nl.newsbank.com), August 9, 1999.
- ^ "Guyana's new president urges racial tolerance", Associated Press (nl.newsbank.com), August 12, 1999.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Sam Hinds |
President of Guyana 1997–1999 |
Succeeded by Bharrat Jagdeo |
| Preceded by Sam Hinds |
Prime Minister of Guyana 1997 |
Succeeded by Sam Hinds |
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