Viola Burnham
OR
Vice President of Guyana
In office
August 1985 – October 1991
PresidentDesmond Hoyte
First Lady of Guyana
In role
6 October 1980 – 6 August 1985
PresidentForbes Burnham
Preceded byDoreen Chung
Succeeded byJoyce Hoyte
Spouse of the Prime Minister of Guyana
In role
1967 – 6 October 1980
Prime MinisterForbes Burnham
Preceded byBernice Lataste
Succeeded byRuth Reid
Personal details
Born
Viola Victorine Harper

26 November 1930
New Amsterdam, Berbice, British Guiana
Died10 October 2003(2003-10-10) (aged 72)
NationalityGuyana Guyanese
SpouseForbes Burnham (m. 1967)
Children3 (one adopted)
Parents
  • James Nathaniel Harper (father)
  • Mary Chin (mother)
Alma materUniversity of Leicester; University of Chicago

Viola Victorine Burnham OR (née Harper; 26 November 1930 – 10 October 2003)[1][2] was a Guyanese politician from People's National Congress (PNC), and wife and widow of Forbes Burnham.

Early life

Burnham was born in New Amsterdam, Berbice, the youngest of eight children of schoolmaster James Nathaniel Harper and his wife Mary (née Chin). After her father died the family moved to Georgetown, where she attended Bishops’ High School on scholarship. After a brief job at The Argosy, she became a teacher, which led her to obtain a scholarship for university abroad. She earned a B.A. in Latin at University of Leicester, then her M.A. in Education at University of Chicago. She returned to Guyana teach Latin at Bishops High.[1]

Political sphere

In 1967, she married then-Prime minister Forbes Burnham (his second marriage) and they had two daughters. In 1967, she accepted the position of Vice-Chairperson of the Women's Auxiliary of the PNC, where she was involved in reorganization and assuming more responsibility for women's issues. In 1976, she was elected as Chairperson of what by this time had become the Women's Revolutionary Socialist Movement (WRSM). Through the WRSM, Burnham was responsible for projects related to women's employment and education in Guyana as well as the greater Caribbean region. She was a founding member and Vice-President of the Caribbean Woman's Association. She also led the Guyanese delegation for the first three United Nations Conferences on Women. She also served as a chair on the Guyana National Commission for the Year of the Child.[3]

After the death of Forbes Burnham, she joined the cabinet of Desmond Hoyte as Vice President and deputy prime minister responsible for education, social development and culture in August 1985. She was elected to Parliament in 1985. She eventually stepped down from the parliament and from the cabinet in October 1991.[4]

Honours

In 1984, she received the Order of Roraima (OR).[5]

References

  1. 1 2 "Viola Victorine Burnham". Guyana Chronicle. 8 March 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  2. ↑ "Burnham, Viola (1930–2003) | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  3. ↑ Secretariat, Commonwealth (1999). Women in Politics: Voices from the Commonwealth. Commonwealth Secretariat. ISBN 978-0-85092-569-2.
  4. ↑ Harris-Stoute, Cloyette (13 February 2013). "Women in History: Viola Victorine Burnham, Former First Lady, Vice President & Deputy Prime Minister of Guyana". Guyanese Girls Rock!. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  5. ↑ "Viola Burnham ...An obituary". Stabroek News. Guyana: Land of Six Peoples. 12 October 2003. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
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