Ralph Gonsalves

Gonsalves, known affectionately as "Comrade Ralph", was born in Colonarie, Saint Vincent, British Windward Islands to his father, Alban Gonsalves (a farmer and small businessman, now deceased) and his mother, Theresa Francis (a small business woman). His ancestors came to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in 1845 as indentured servants from the Portuguese island of Madeira.[2]

He attended Colonarie Roman Catholic School, and later the St Vincent Grammar School. Gonsalves then enrolled at the University of the West Indies, where he completed a bachelor's degree in economics. He later returned there to earn a master's degree in government, which he completed in 1971. In 1974 he completed a Doctorate in government at the University of Manchester. Gonsalves was called to the bar at Gray's Inn in London in 1981.[6] He also attended Makerere University in Uganda according to his address at the United Nations during the Africa Day event on 25 May 2019.

Gonsalves in 2013

Gonsalves became involved in politics at university, as president of the University of West Indies' Guild of Undergraduates and Debating Society. In 1968, he led a student protest of the deportation of historian and intellectual Walter Rodney by the Jamaican government.[7]

In 1994, Gonsalves became the deputy leader of the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Labour Party. After the resignation of Vincent Beache, Gonsalves became leader of the party in 1998.[3] Gonsalves later led the Unity Labour Party to win the 2001 general election, becoming Prime Minister. His ULP was re-elected in the 2005 general election. In the 2010 general election, Gonsalves and the ULP were narrowly re-elected with 51.11% of the popular vote.[8]

Gonsalves at a CARICOM meeting in 2016 with President of Chile Michelle Bachelet and Chilean Foreign Minister Heraldo Muñoz

In 2009 Gonsalves and the ULP led a referendum campaign[9] in favour of constitutional reform that would have abolished the country's constitutional monarchy, replacing Elizabeth II[10] with a non-executive president. The referendum was defeated, with 55.64% of voters rejecting the changes.[11]

On 3 July 2020, Gonsalves was elected Chairman of the Caribbean Community succeeding Mia Amor Mottley.[7]

Gonsalves practices law before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.[2] He has written and published on a range of matters including the Caribbean, Africa, trade unionism, comparative political economy, and developmental issues generally.

Gonsalves has been married twice; currently he is married to Eloise Harris. He has two sons by his first marriage, Camillo and Adam; one son by his second wife, Storm; and two daughters, Isis and Soleil.

Books

• Diary of a Prime Minister: Ten days among Benedictine Monks
• The Making of 'the Comrade': The Political Journey of Ralph Gonsalves
• The spectre of imperialism: the case of the Caribbean (University of the West Indies; 128 pages, 1976)
• The non-capitalist path of development: Africa and the Caribbean (One Caribbean Publishers; 1981)
• History and the future: a Caribbean perspective (169 pages, 1994)
• Notes on some basic ideas in Marxism-Leninism (University of the West Indies; 56 pages)

Theses

• The role of labour in the political process of St. Vincent (1935–1970) (Master's Thesis, 1971)[12]
• The politics of trade unions and industrial relations in Uganda (1950–1971) (Doctoral Thesis, 1974)[13]

Pamphlets

• The Rodney affair and its aftermath (University of the West Indies; 21 pages, 1975)
• The development and class character of the bourgeois state: the case of St. Vincent (University of the West Indies; 15 pages, 1976)
• Controls and influences on the civil service and statutory bodies in the Commonwealth Caribbean: a preliminary discussion (University of the West Indies; 67 pages, 1977)
• The development of the labour movement in St. Vincent (37 pages, 1977)
• Who killed sugar in St. Vincent? (United Liberation Movement; 21 pages, 1977)
• On the political economy of Barbados (One Caribbean Publishers; 49 pages, 1981)
• The trade union movement in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (Movement for National Unity; 64 pages, 1983)
• Ebenezer Joshua: his ideology and style (Movement for National Unity; 39 pages, 1984)
• (editor) The trial of George McIntosh (Caribbean Diaspora Press; 80 pages, 1985)
• Authority in the police force: its uses and abuses (Movement for National Unity; 45 pages, 1986)
• Banana in trouble: its present and future (Movement for National Unity; 22 pages, 1989)