Cheddi Jagan

Both his mother's and father's family immigrated to British Guiana aboard the Elbe in 1901; his father being two years old and his mother 18 months when they arrived.

His father's family were indentured to Albion Estate and his mother's family was indentured to Port Mourant Estate.

The Jagan family lived in rural poverty, working in the cane fields to support themselves.

His mother had worked on the estate till Jagan was nine years old.

His father had worked his way up to become head driver on the estate, but it did not amount to much change in pay, and he had to retire at 50 due to ill health.

Jagan received his primary education at Port Mourant Primary and the Rose Hall Scots School.

He went on to pursue secondary education at R. N. Persaud's private Secondary School.

When Jagan was 15 years old, his father sent him to Queen's College in the capital city of Georgetown (about 160 km away) for the next three years.

Upon graduation, Jagan found his employment options in Guyana limited to agricultural work or converting to Christianity and becoming a teacher, so his father sent him to the United States to study dentistry with $500, the family's life savings, so that he would not end up in the cane fields and he would not have to compromise his Hindu faith.

Cheddi Berret Jagan (22 March 1918 – 6 March 1997) was a Guyanese politician and dentist who was first elected Chief Minister in 1953 and later Premier of British Guiana from 1961 to 1964.

Cheddi Berret (Bharat) Jagan was born on 22 March 1918 in Ankerville, Port Mourant, a rural village in the county of Berbice (present-day East Berbice-Corentyne).

He was the eldest of 11 children.

His parents were Indian Hindus who were Kurmis.

They emigrated from British India to British Guiana as indentured labourers.

They were both from the Basti district in the then North-Western Provinces in the Awadh and Bhojpuri regions of the Hindi Belt in North India (in present-day Uttar Pradesh, India).

His mother Bachaoni came to British Guiana as a child with her mother, while his father Jagan also came as a child with his mother and brother.

Jagan left for the United States in September 1935 or 1936 with two friends, and did not return to British Guiana until October 1943.

He lived in Washington, D.C., for two years, enrolled in a pre-dental course at Howard University.

To cover his expenses, Jagan took a job as an elevator operator.

During the summers, he worked in New York City as a door-to-door salesman.

Jagan's performance helped him to win a scholarship for his second year at Howard.

In 1938, he was admitted to the four-year dental program at Northwestern University in Chicago.

After returning to British Guiana, Jagan established a practice in Georgetown on 68 Main Street.

During this time, he began to become politically engaged, and became involved with trade unions in the sugar industry.

In 1945 he was made the treasurer of the Manpower Citizens' Association, though he was removed after a year after objecting to union policy.

Jagan co-founded the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) in 1946 along with his wife, Janet, as well as H.J.M. Hubbard, and Ashton Chase.

He was subsequently elected to the Legislative Council in November 1947 as an independent candidate from Central Demerara constituency.

The PPP quickly gained a mass following when they organised protests against the colonial administration, following an incident where colonial police shot dead five workers at Enmore sugar plantation in 1948 when they were participating in strike action.

In 1949 Jagan became the president of the Sawmill Workers Union.

On 1 January 1950, the People's Progressive Party (PPP) was founded by a merger of the PAC and the British Guiana Labour Party (BGLP), with Jagan as its leader, former BGLP leader Forbes Burnham as its chairman and Jagan's wife Janet as secretary.

In 1953, he became the first Hindu and person of Indian descent to be a head of government outside of the Indian subcontinent.

Jagan founded the People's Progressive Party along with his wife Janet and Forbes Burnham, and served as the first leader of the party.

Jagan was a leading figure in the campaign for the independence of Guyana from the United Kingdom, and advocated for increased powers for trade unions at a time when British Guiana's economy was dominated by powerful foreign enterprises.

On 27 April 1953, Jagan won the 1953 British Guiana general election, with his PPP party winning 18 of 24 seats.

Jagan's government immediately dissented against British rule.

Jagan encouraged strike action against important sugar company Booker, refused to send a delegation to the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, repealed a law on "undesirable publications" passed by the colonial government, and repealed another law banning immigration of politically left-leaning individuals from the West Indies.

Taking place in the middle of Second Red Scare and McCarthyism, Jagan's actions and policies led to British worries about a possible communist revolution in Guyana.

Jagan lost his position as Prime Minister to Forbes Burnham following the 1964 British Guiana general election, and Burnham would become Guyana's first Head of Government following independence.

He later served as President of Guyana from 1992 to his death in 1997.

28 years later, Jagan was elected president in the 1992 Guyanese general election, which was regarded as the first "free and fair" election since 1964.