Sir George Mallet GCSL GCMG CBE was a politician who was Governor-General of Saint Lucia and held a number of high offices in the island Saint Lucia, one of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Eastern Caribbean.
23 Facts About George Mallet
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Sir George served as the Minister for Trade, Industry, Agriculture and Tourism in the first post-independence government of St Lucia beginning in 1979.
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In later years, Sir George Mallet served as Deputy Prime Minister and was responsible for numerous government ministries including Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs and CARICOM Affairs.
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George Mallet was very popular amongst his constituents and never lost the Castries Central seat during his political career.
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George Mallet's family lived in Panama for a number of years while his father was an office worker for the Panama Canal.
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George Mallet acquired his education at the Roman Catholic Boys' School in Castries and at the Castries Intermediate Secondary School.
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George Mallet was first elected to the Castries City Council in 1952.
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George Mallet served as chairman of that council until 1964.
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In 1958, George Mallet was elected to the Saint Lucia Legislative Council to represent the constituency of Castries Central.
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Now fully a public servant, George Mallet was a member of the People's Progressive Party and was appointed to the post of Minister for Trade, Industry, Agriculture and Tourism.
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George Mallet retained his position as Minister for Trade, Industry, Agriculture and Tourism and John Compton became Chief Minister.
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George Mallet continued in his role as Minister for Trade, Industry and Tourism until a few months after independence in 1979, when the United Workers Party was defeated in national elections by the Saint Lucia Labour Party.
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George Mallet did win the Castries Central seat in the election; but with the change of government he became a member of the opposition party in the Saint Lucia House of Assembly.
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George Mallet was appointed to serve as Minister for Trade, Industry and Tourism.
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George Mallet held this position until 1992; after that year's national election he was named Minister for Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs, Trade and Industry.
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In 1996, after 38 years of service, George Mallet resigned his seat in the House of Assembly.
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However, before leaving office, George Mallet campaigned heavily for his chosen successor to the Castries Central seat, Dr Vaughan Lewis.
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On 1 June 1996 George Mallet was appointed to the office of Governor General.
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However, with the SLP's election victory the next year, Sir George Mallet retired from the post of Governor General on 31 August 1997.
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George Mallet died on 20 October 2010 in Castries, aged 87, after a long battle with cancer.
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In 1996, George Mallet was made Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Lucia in recognition of his years of service to Saint Lucia and the British Commonwealth.
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George Mallet was honoured as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
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The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George Mallet is a British order of chivalry for men and women of high office, or who render extraordinary or important non-military service in a foreign country.