Richard Hart (Jamaican politician)

For other people named Richard Hart, see Richard Hart (disambiguation).

Richard Hart
Born
Ansell Richard Hart

(1917-08-13)13 August 1917
Montego Bay, Colony of Jamaica, British Empire
Died21 December 2013(2013-12-21) (aged 96)
Bristol, England, United Kingdom
Occupation(s)Historian, politician and political activist, solicitor, lecturer and academic
Notable workSlaves who Abolished Slavery (1980–1985)
Towards Decolonisation: Political, Labour and Economic Developments in Jamaica 1939–1945 (1999)
Political partyPeople's National Party (1939–52)
People's Freedom Movement (1952–62)
New Jewel Movement, Grenada (1982–83)
AwardsGold Musgrave Medal (2005)

Richard Hart (13 August 1917 – 21 December 2013) was a Jamaican historian, solicitor and politician. He was a founding member of the People's National Party (PNP) and one of the pioneers of Marxism in Jamaica.[1] He played an important role in Jamaican politics in the years leading up to Independence in 1962.[2][3][4][5] He subsequently was based in Guyana for two years, before relocating to London, England, in 1965, working as a solicitor and co-founding the campaigning organisation Caribbean Labour Solidarity in 1974. He went on to serve as attorney-general in Grenada under the People's Revolutionary Government in 1983. He spent the latter years of his life in the UK, where he died in Bristol.

Hart was the author of several notable books on Caribbean history – including Towards Decolonisation: Political, Labour and Economic Developments in Jamaica 1939–1945 (1999), Slaves who Abolished Slavery (1980, 1985; reprinted 2002) and The Grenada Revolution: Setting the Record Straight (2005) – and he lectured on the subject at universities in the West Indies, the US, Canada and Europe.[6] Professor Rupert Lewis of the University of the West Indies' Mona campus once described Hart as "the most consistent Caribbean activist".[2]

  1. ^ Campbell, Howard (6 June 2006). "CAMPUS BEAT – University of the West Indies (UWI) explores rich legacy of Richard Hart". The Gleaner. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  2. ^ a b Campbell, Howard (16 October 2011). "Richard Hart: Activist in the Shadows". The Gleaner. Jamaica. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference UWE was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Campbell, Howard (18 April 2010). "Works of the Radical Hart to be Published". The Gleaner. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  5. ^ Campbell, Howard (11 October 2005). "Forgotten Historian Awarded Musgrave Gold". The Gleaner. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  6. ^ "University confers honorary degrees on five inspirational people" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, University of Hull, 31 January 2011.