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Contact: Patricia Coen (609) 258-5764
Date: September 10, 1998
 

President of Guyana to Speak on New and Restored Democracies


Princeton, N.J. -- Janet Jagan, president of Guyana, will give a lecture entitled "The Challenges Facing New and Restored Democracies: Guyana's Experience" at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs on Monday, September 21, at 7 p.m., in Bowl 1, Robertson Hall.

Chicago-born Janet Jagan was elected president of Guyana on December 15, 1997, becoming the first woman to lead the South American nation and one of only four women heads of state in the world today. At the time of her election, Jagan was interim prime minister and vice president, following the untimely death of her husband, Cheddi Jagan, who had been president of Guyana since 1992.

A political activist and journalist, Jagan moved to British Guiana in 1943 after marrying her Guyanese political-activist husband. The Jagans were involved in Guyanese politics from the start, particularly in the labor movement. In 1950 they formed the People's Progressive Party, the first modern mass party in Guyana, whose main purpose was to secure independence from British rule. Cheddi Jagan, as the first premier of Guyana, finally achieved that goal in 1966. Janet Jagan served as the PPP's general secretary from 1950 to 1970 and was the first editor of Thunder, the party's official publication.

In 1953 Jagan entered the House of Assembly in Guyana and became the first woman deputy speaker of the legislature. In 1957, she was appointed minister of labor, health, and housing and, from 1963 to 1964, served as minister of home affairs and as a member of the Senate. From 1970 to 1997 she was president of the Union of Guyanese Journalists, and from 1973 to 1997 edited the newspaper Mirror.

Jagan is the author of a history of the People's Progressive Party, a study of rigged elections in Guyana, and of four children's books, including When Grandpa Cheddi Was a Boy. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Order of Excellence, Guyana's highest award, and UNESCO's Gandhi Gold Medal for Peace, Democracy, and Women's Rights.

Jagan's lecture is sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the University's Center of International Studies.