8/3/2019 The Right Honourable

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-right-honourable 1/2

The Right Honourable

Rt. Hon. George Cadle Price

Rt. Hon. George Price

1st Prime Minister of Belize

In office

September 21, 1981 – December 17, 1984

Deputy Florencio Marin, Sr.

Preceded by office created

Succeeded by Manuel Esquivel

3rd Prime Minister of Belize

In office

September 7, 1989 – July 3, 1993

Deputy Florencio Marin, Sr.

Preceded by Manuel Esquivel

Personal details

BornJanuary 15, 1919Belize City, Belize

Died September 19, 2011 (aged 92)Belize City, Belize

Nationality Belizean

Political party People's United Party

George Cadle Price (January 15, 1919 – September 19, 2011) was the first Prime

Minister of Belize and is considered to have been one of the principal architects of thecountry's independence, and is today referred to by many as "the Father of the Nation".

Born in Belize City to William and Irene (née Escalante) Price, he entered politics in

1947 with his election to the Belize City Council. Three years later, on September 29,

1950, he co-founded the People's United Party, which he led for four decades and whichwas devoted to the political and economic independence of the British colony, then

known as British Honduras.[1]

Education and early political activities

8/3/2019 The Right Honourable

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-right-honourable 2/2

Price was never educated further than St. John's College High School (SJC did not have a

sixth form until the 1960s.) While there, however, he was exposed to the teachings of 

Catholic social justice, in particular the encyclical  Rerum Novarum. Upon graduationPrice was hired by local businessman Robert Sidney Turton as his private secretary. He

also rallied a few SJC graduates, some of them later members of the PUP, to contest

elections in 1944 and 1947 for the local Town Board, being successful in 1947. Price alsocontributed to the Belize Billboard, then run by Phillip Goldson.[citation needed ]

Later political career

Main article: People's United Party

Price, upon the formation of the People's Committee (PC) in 1950, was named its

Assistant Secretary, and in a famous speech later that year claimed that "National Unity" propelled the PC's actions. With the formation of the PUP, Price's stature rose and he

ascended through the party ranks until he became Party Leader following a leadership

dispute in 1956.[citation needed ]

Elected to the colony's Legislative Council in 1954, he also served as mayor of Belize

City from 1956 to 1962. In 1956, Price became also Party Leader of the PUP. As First

Minister, a post he held since 1961, he led the team which began negotiations over 

independence with Great Britain. He maintained that post as Premier in 1964. In 1981Belize gained its independence, and Price served as the country's first prime minister and

foreign minister until 1984. After the PUP's defeat in the elections by the United

Democratic Party under Manuel Esquivel, he resumed the post of prime minister in 1989,serving until 1993, when he was again replaced by Esquivel.[citation needed ]

In 1982, Price became a member of the United Kingdom's Privy Council. In October 1996 he announced his resignation as party leader, and on November 10, 1996 was

formally succeeded by Said Musa.

Honours

In September 2000, Price became the first person to receive Belize's highest honour, the

Order of National Hero, for the prominent role he played in leading his country to

independence. He has received similar honours in other Caribbean and Central Americancountries. In 1982, he was made a member of the Privy Council.[1]

Death

Price died on September 19, 2011, aged 92, in a medically induced coma at Belize

Healthcare Partners Hospital after surgery to remove a blood clot .[2] A state funeral washeld on Monday, September 26, 2011.