Janet Jagan biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Born Janet Rosenberg on October 20, 1920, in Chicago, Illinois, Janet Jagan is best known for becoming the first female prime minister and president of Guyana. Raised in a middle-class Jewish family, Janet attended Wayne State University and the Cook County Nursing School. She met Cheddi Jagan, a denistry student from Guyana (known then as British Guiana), in 1942, and the couple—who shared a passion for radical politics—were married the following year.

People's Progressive Party

Moving to Guyana in 1943, Janet Jagan worked with her husband at his dental practice. The couple soon got involved in the country's labor movement. In addition to joining the British Guiana Labour Union, Jagan helped organize domestic workers with labor leader Hubert Critchlow. She also helped establish the Women's Political and Economic Organisation in 1946.

In 1950, Janet and Cheddi Jagan were instrumental in creating a the country's first modern political party, the People's Progressive Party. Janet became the organization's secretary general, a post that she would hold for nearly 20 years. One of the party's goals was to liberate of Guyana from British rule (the South American nation had been a British colony since the late 1700s). The PPP made an impressive showing at the 1953 elections, winning a majority of seats in the country's first popular vote. Cheddi was elected as chief minister, but only held his post for a short time. Fearing the PPP's Marxist leanings, the British government removed the organization from power after only 133 days. The constitution was also suspended.

Two years later, Janet and Cheddi Jagan spent time in jail as political prisoners. They were vindicated in a way by the 1957 elections, in which the Guyanese people selected Cheddi as their chief minister and Janet as their minister of labor, health and housing. While still under British control, the PPP government tried their best to improve the lives of the people. Janet Jagan worked on creating health centers and special clinics for pregnant women and children, and worked to tackle issues relating to workers' pay and treatment.

In the early 1960s, the country wrestled with political and economic turmoil. There were riots against the PPP government. The PPP also suffered from internal conflict when one of its founders, Forbes Burnham, who was of African heritage, left to form the largely black People??s National Congress. Most of the remaining members of the PPP, including Cheddi Jagan, were East Indian descendants. Over the years, supporters of both parties engaged in a number of violent clashes.

The situation got so bad in the early 1960s that the Jagans decided to send their daughter, Nadira, to live abroad for a time, while they remained committed to their work.