David Marshall (Singaporean politician)

David Marshall
1st Chief Minister of Singapore
In office
6 April 1955 – 7 June 1956
MonarchElizabeth II
GovernorJohn Fearns Nicoll
Robert Black
William Goode
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byLim Yew Hock
Chairman of the Workers' Party
In office
3 November 1957 – 18 January 1963
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byChiang Seok Keong (acting)
Member of the Legislative Assembly
for Anson
In office
15 July 1961 – 3 September 1963
Preceded byMohammed Baharuddin Ariff
Succeeded byGovindaswamy Perumal
Member of the Legislative Assembly
for Cairnhill
In office
2 April 1955 – 29 April 1957
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded bySoh Ghee Soon
Personal details
Born
David Saul Marshal

12 March 1908
Singapore, Straits Settlements
Died12 December 1995(1995-12-12) (aged 87)
Singapore
Cause of deathLung cancer
Political partyIndependent
(1963–1995)
Other political
affiliations
Labour Front
(1954–1957)
Worker's Party
(1957–1963)
Spouse
Jean Mary Gray
(m. 1961)
Children4[1]
Parent(s)Saul Nassim Marshall (father)
Flora Ezekiel Marshall (mother)
Alma materUniversity of London

David Saul Marshall (12 March 1908 – 12 December 1995), born David Saul Mashal, was a Singaporean barrister and statesman who served as the inaugural Chief Minister of Singapore from 1955 to 1956. He resigned after just over a year at the helm after his delegation to London regarding negotiations for complete home rule and eventual independence of Singapore was initially rejected by the British. However, Marshall was nevertheless instrumental in forging the idea of sovereignty as well as in subsequent negotiations that led to its eventual self-governance from the United Kingdom in 1959.

While Marshall had a privileged upbringing, he was a leftist nationalist who aspired self-determination of the former British Crown colony—having founded the Labour Front and the Workers' Party. From 1963 onward, Marshall would renounce partisan politics and become an independent politician for the rest of his life. Singapore would eventually gain its complete independence in 1965 as a sovereign country – his foremost political goal coming into fruition.

In 1978, Marshall became a diplomat and was Singapore's inaugural ambassador to various countries, including France, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland. During this time, Marshall defended Singapore's interests abroad, despite his old political opponent and fellow barrister Lee Kuan Yew, under his People's Action Party, concurrently in government with Lee as prime minister. Nevertheless, he publicly maintained constructive criticism of some domestic policies that he had disagreed with. Marshall retired in 1993, and died two years later in 1995, at the age of 87.

  1. ^ "David Saul Marshall". Singapore Infopedia, National Library Board. 2008. Archived from the original on 18 March 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.