|
President
Arthur Napoleon Raymond
Robinson
SC Hon. DCL, Hon.,
|
|
Fellow
of the St. John's
College, Oxford, is a
former Prime Minister of
the Republic of Trinidad
and Tobago and is one of
the most experienced
parliamentarians in the
Caribbean.
• As a boy ANR
Robinson attended
Tobago's Castara
Methodist School where
his father, James A.
Robinson was Principal.
From there in 1939, he
was the first Bowles
Scholar to Bishop's High
School, Tobago, and later
the first House
Scholarship winner from
Bishop's High School in
1942.
• Robinson gained
admission to the Bachelor
of Laws Degree of London
University as an external
student in 1949. In 1951,
he left for the United
Kingdom where he gained
admission to the Inner
Temple and passed the Bar
Final Examinations in
1953.
• That same year
he was admitted to St.
John's College, Oxford,
where he obtained a
Degree in Philosophy,
Politics and Economics.
• He was admitted
to practice as a
Barrister-at-Law in
Trinidad and Tobago in
1955 and was in the
Chambers of Sir Courtney
Hannays from 1957 to
1961.
|
 |
ANR Robinson
President
of The
Republic
of Trinidad & Tobago |
Tell
your friends
about this site
 |
|
|
• Mr. Robinson is married
to economist Patricia Jean nee
Rawlins, they have two children,
David and Ann-Margaret.
• Robinson was a founding
member and deputy political
leader of the People's National
Movement (PNM), the Political
Party which led the people of
Trinidad and Tobago to
Independence in 1962.
• Between 1956 and 1970,
he served in the hierarchy of the
PNM and was elected to the
Federal Parliament in 1958 and to
the Trinidad and Tobago
Parliament as representative for
Tobago in 1961.
• ANR Robinson was the
first Minister of Finance after
Independence and was responsible
for the restructuring of the
country's financial institutions
and the reform of financial and
monetary policy. Later on he
became Trinidad and Tobago's
Minister of External Affairs.
|
|
 |
ANR Robinson
1st.
Chairman of the
Restored
THA - 1980 |
|
• In 1971 Mr. ANR Robinson
became dissatisfied with the
PNM’s Tobago policies and
the treatment of Tobago. He left
the PNM to lead the struggle for
decentralization and devolution
of authority to Tobago. From 1971
to 1985 he became the leader of
the Tobago based Democratic
Action Congress (DAC).
• He was the first
Chairman of the (restored) Tobago
House of Assembly and a founding
member of the National Alliance
for Reconstruction.
• He led the National
Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR)
from 1986-1997. As head of the
NAR he was elected Prime Minister
of Trinidad and Tobago from 1986
to December 1991.
• During his tenure as
Prime Minister, the Parliament
was illegally attacked by an
armed Muslimeen group, led by
Abur Bakkar. Mr. Robinson and
other members of Parliament were
held hostage.
|
|
| |
• ANR Robinson has been a
representative of Trinidad and Tobago on
the Council of the University of the West
Indies and a Director of Trinidad and
Tobago's Industrial Development
Corporation.
• He has been a consultant to the
United Nations Secretary-General on crime
and the abuse of power. He was a Director
of the foundation for the establishment
of an International Criminal Court for
over 15 years.
• As Prime Minister, Robinson was
responsible for several regional
initiatives, including the Caribbean
Regional Economic Conference, the
proposed Caribbean Court of Appeal and
the West Indian Commission chaired by Sir
Shridath Ramplal, former
Secretary-General of the Commonwealth. He
has represented his country at many
international conferences.
• At the United Nations he has
been acknowledged as a leading proponent
of an International Criminal
Jurisdiction.
• He was awarded an Honorary
Degree of Civil Laws from the Obafemi
Awolowo University in Nigeria. On a state
visit to Nigeria in 1991 he was made
Chief of Ile Ife by the Ooni of Ife.
• He is an Honorary Fellow of St.
John's College, Oxford, and has been a
Visiting Scholar to the Harvard Law
School.
• In 1987 he was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Honour from
California Lutheran University. Robinson
has also been awarded a Knighthood of
Honour and of Merit by an Ecumenical
Foundation of the Knights of St. Johns
for "exceptional achievements and
unselfish support of humanity." He
is a Freeman of the cities of Los Angeles
and a Thousand Oaks and holds Venezuela's
highest award - the Simon Bolivar Award.
• In November 1993, he was
co-opted as Vice Chair of the
International Council of the United
Nations affiliated body
"Parliamentarians for Global
Action" which has a membership of
over 900 Parliamentarians from 75
countries around the world. Robinson is
the holder of two international awards:
The Distinguished International Criminal
Law Award of 1977 and the Distinguished
Human Development Award of 1983.
• He is the author of The New
Frontier and the New Africa and The
Mechanics of Independence; the latter
published by the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology Press.
• He co-authored the article on
Trinidad and Tobago in the Encyclopedia
Britannica and has published numerous
articles and addresses. A selection of
his articles and speeches from 1960 to
1986 have been published under the title
of "Caribbean Man."
|
During
his years in the political
lime-light Arthur Napoleon
Raymond Robinson served with
distinction, charisma and a clear
vision of the future of his
country and the Caribbean
Community. It was not surprising
therefore that in 1997 as a cap
to this brilliant political
career in service of the people
of Trinidad and Tobago, he was
elected President of The Republic
of Trinidad and Tobago.
|
|
|
