60 Facts About Forbes Burnham

Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham was a Guyanese politician and the leader of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana from 1964 until his death in 1985.

Forbes Burnham served as Premier of British Guiana from 1964 to 1966, Prime Minister of Guyana from 1964 to 1980 and then as the first executive president of Guyana from 1980 to 1985.

Forbes Burnham is often regarded as a strongman who embraced his own version of socialism.

Forbes Burnham's premiership was characterized by the nationalisation of foreign-owned private industries, membership of the Non-Aligned Movement and authoritarian domestic policy.

Forbes Burnham was born in Kitty, a suburb of Georgetown, Demerara County, British Guiana, as one of three or four children.

Forbes Burnham's parents were James Ethelbert Burnham, a schoolmaster, and Rachel Abigail Sampson, and he grew up in an Afro-Guyanese, Methodist household.

Forbes Burnham's father had his roots in a slave family from Barbados, and his family name came from the surname of the plantation owner.

Forbes Burnham attended Kitty Methodist School and Central High School before attending the prestigious secondary school, Queen's College, where he met future political rival Cheddi Jagan.

Forbes Burnham's sister said that Burnham was ambitious from a young age, and that he was bullied at Central High School for his small stature and academic prowess.

At Queen's College, Forbes Burnham excelled academically, receiving the Centenary Exhibition, the Government Junior, and the Percival Exhibition.

Forbes Burnham was unable to travel to the United Kingdom due to World War II, instead working as an assistant master at Queen's college and completing a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of London through external examinations.

In London, Forbes Burnham won the Best Speaker's Cup, awarded by the Faculty of Law.

Forbes Burnham attended the Student's Congresses in Prague and Paris, and was a member of the League of Coloured Peoples.

Forbes Burnham left the United Kingdom to return to British Guiana on 20 December 1948, departing Liverpool on the Empress of France bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia, and arrived in Georgetown in 1949.

In 1949, after returning from his studies in the United Kingdom, Forbes Burnham entered the private law chambers of Cameron and Shepherd before setting up his own private law practice, Clarke and Martin.

Also in 1949, Forbes Burnham became the leader of the British Guiana Labour Party, which had been formed in 1946.

Less than a year after his return from the United Kingdom, Forbes Burnham was one of the founders of the People's Progressive Party, which was launched on 1 January 1950.

In 1952, Forbes Burnham became the president of the party's affiliated trade union, the British Guiana Labour Union, and was elected to Georgetown City Council in 1953.

Jagan supported a socialist domestic policy, but Forbes Burnham's faction was more moderate.

Also in 1957, Forbes Burnham became President of the Guyana Bar Association, a position he would hold until 1964.

In 1959, Forbes Burnham was elected Mayor of Georgetown, a position he would hold until 1964 when he was re-elected until 1966.

Senior officials in the United States decided that Forbes Burnham's proposed socialism was preferable to Jagan's ideology, but concluded that Jagan would become Head of Government of an independent Guyana without US intervention.

Forbes Burnham was appointed President of the Guyana Labour Union in 1963.

Forbes Burnham would remain as Head of Government of Guyana for the next 21 years.

In 1967, Forbes Burnham stated that "overseas vote figures could be manipulated pretty much as he wished".

Forbes Burnham demanded the withdrawal of Venezuelan armed forces, but his request was denied.

In 1968, a conference of 40,000 Amerindian people presented demands to Forbes Burnham, being dissatisfied with his afrocentrist policies.

Forbes Burnham nationalised the major industries that were foreign-owned and -controlled.

In declaring the Co-Operative republic, Forbes Burnham replaced the Head of State, removing the British monarch and installing Arthur Chung as the first president, though Guyana remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

On 18 June 1970 Forbes Burnham signed the Port of Spain Protocol with Venezuela.

Forbes Burnham sent more than a hundred Guyanese public servants to various departments of the Zambian Government.

Shortly after the election, Forbes Burnham expanded powers of preventive detention, allowing restrictions on movement and possession of firearms, and search without warrant.

Forbes Burnham had previously allowed the group, led by Jim Jones, to move to Guyana from San Francisco, US, and had a good relationship with the group.

The incident drew international attention to Guyana, and an inquest established by the opposition blamed Forbes Burnham, considered to be an ally of Jones, for the deaths.

In 2016, the Commission of Inquiry released findings that state that President Forbes Burnham, aided by the Guyana Defence Force and Guyana Police Force, was part of the conspiracy to assassinate Rodney, the leader of the Working People's Alliance, a group which posed a threat to Burnham.

Rodney's WPA believed that different ethnic groups historically disenfranchised by colonialism should all have a part in the governance of Guyana, a position that challenged Forbes Burnham's hold on power.

Commodity shortages and a near-breakdown in public services occurred, and Forbes Burnham enforced austerity measures and looked for economic support from Soviet-leaning countries.

In Forbes Burnham's state-controlled economy, Afro-Guyanese held most jobs and the news media were controlled by the government.

Forbes Burnham was a supporter of the Non-Aligned Movement, which Guyana had joined in 1970.

Forbes Burnham made all education, including tertiary education, free during his time in office.

Forbes Burnham was accused of corruption during his premiership by opposition parties.

Walter Rodney said that "Forbes Burnham encourages around himself individuals who are weak or corrupt because he then exercises vicious control over them," and called his administration a "corrupt dictatorship".

Forbes Burnham's administration has been accused of afrocentrist policies and discrimination against the Indian population.

The Guyanese armed forces under the Forbes Burnham administration were majority Afro-Guyanese after Forbes Burnham purged the armed forces of Indo-Guyanese from 1968, and under the state-controlled economy Afro-Guyanese took up the majority of jobs despite being a minority of the population.

Guyanese journalist Freddie Kissoon expressed the opinion that Forbes Burnham was not racist, but was aware that his support was predominantly Afro-Guyanese, the Indo-Guyanese mostly supported Jagan, so that Forbes Burnham had to deliver policies to please the Afro-Guyanese racial group and maintain his popular support.

Walter Rodney wrote in an essay that a pamphlet by Jessie Burnham described Forbes' "racist attitude towards Indians".

Forbes Burnham passed many authoritarian policies during his tenure, starting with the "National Security Act" after independence.

Forbes Burnham would pass laws to restrict movement, increase police powers to search and detain, and restrict firearms.

Forbes Burnham would make constitutional changes that would provide him with the power to veto legislation, make further constitutional changes without a referendum, control governmental appointments and dissolve parliament.

Forbes Burnham was Head of Government when the army killed two Indo-Guyanese poll workers in 1973.

In February 1967 Forbes Burnham married high school Latin teacher Viola Victorine Harper, who became involved in politics, serving as Vice President of Guyana under Desmond Hoyte.

Forbes Burnham had two daughters with Viola, Melanie and Ulele, and adopted a son, Kamana.

Forbes Burnham's hobbies included swimming and horse-riding, and he played chess, billiards, patience, cricket, tennis and fishing.

Forbes Burnham lived in Castellani House from 1965 to 1985, during which time it was referred to as "The Residence".

Neil L Whitehead claimed in a book that Burnham was superstitious and engaged with obeah, employing an obeah advisor known as Mother Monica and devouring raw duck eggs and 100-year-old Chinese eggs to increase his potency or power.

Forbes Burnham died of heart failure during throat surgery in Georgetown on 6 August 1985 at the age of 62.

Forbes Burnham was buried in the Botanical Gardens a few days later.

Forbes Burnham's body was later exhumed and taken to the Soviet Union to be preserved for permanent display.

Forbes Burnham's body is in Burnham's Mausoleum in the Guyana Botanical Gardens in Georgetown.

Forbes Burnham's administration put in place many of the national symbols of Guyana during his premiership, including the Flag, the Coat of arms, the National Anthem, the national flower, national bird and the national motto.