32 Facts About Maurice Bishop

Maurice Rupert Bishop was born on 29 May 1944 on the island of Aruba, then a colony of the Netherlands as part of the Territory of Curacao.

Until the age of six, Maurice Bishop was raised in Aruba with two older sisters Ann and Maureen.

Maurice Bishop was sent to study at the Wesleyan elementary school, but after a year Maurice Bishop was transferred to the Roman Catholic St George primary and high school.

At the age of nine Maurice Bishop was teased because of his height which made him look much older.

Maurice Bishop was elected president of the Student Council, of the Discussion Club, and of the History Study Group, along with editing the newspaper Student Voice and participating in sports.

Maurice Bishop was an ardent supporter of the West Indies Federation established in 1958 and the ideas of Caribbean nationalism.

Maurice Bishop recalled the great interest the 1959 Cuban Revolution aroused in him.

In 1962 Maurice Bishop graduated with a gold medal for his outstanding ability.

In December 1963 the 19-year-old Maurice Bishop arrived in London to study law at the University of London, and Coard travelled to the US to study economics at Brandeis University.

In London, Maurice Bishop received a Bachelor of Law degree at Gray's Inn in 1966.

Maurice Bishop often worked in London as a postman or vegetable packer.

Maurice Bishop travelled from the UK to socialist Czechoslovakia and the German Democratic Republic.

Maurice Bishop was particularly impressed by Julius Nyerere's Ujamaa: Essays on Socialism and the Arusha Declaration of 1967.

From 1967 to 1969 Maurice Bishop worked on his thesis "Constitutional Development of Grenada", but left the job because of disagreements with the supervisor in assessing the 1951 disturbances.

In 1972 Maurice Bishop helped organize a conference in Martinique that discussed and strategized actions for liberation movements.

The philosophy of Julius Nyerere and Tanzanian socialism were guiding elements for the Movement for Assemblies of the People which Maurice Bishop helped organize after the elections of 1972.

Maurice Bishop shared the leadership as Joint Coordinating Secretary with Unison Whiteman.

Maurice Bishop joined a mass demonstration against Grenadian Premier Eric Gairy on 21 January 1974.

On 6 February 1974, the day before the proclamation of the independent state of Grenada, Maurice Bishop was arrested on charges of plotting an armed anti-government conspiracy and taken to the Fort George prison.

The day after Independence day, on 8 February 1974, Maurice Bishop was released on bail and soon after went to the United States.

Maurice Bishop continued his law practice, in October 1974 defending Desmond "Ras Kabinda" Trotter and Roy Mason who were accused of murdering an American tourist.

In May 1977 Maurice Bishop made his first visit to Cuba, with Unison Whiteman, as leaders of the NJM and guests of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with People.

In 1979 Maurice Bishop's party staged a revolution and deposed Gairy, who was out of the country addressing the United Nations.

Maurice Bishop became Prime Minister of Grenada and suspended the constitution.

Maurice Bishop established a relationship with Cuba after he took power.

Maurice Bishop initiated a number of projects, most significantly, the building of a new international airport on the island's southern tip.

Maurice Bishop has been quoted at length on the dynamics of democracy:.

Maurice Bishop unpacked the old project of an international airport and asked his friend Fidel Castro for help.

When Bernard Coard arrested Maurice Bishop, protesters numbering 30,000 on an island of 100,000 gathered, and even the guards joined the protest, resulting in the release of Maurice Bishop.

Maurice Bishop rejected these proposals and was eventually deposed and placed under house arrest during the first week of October 1983 by Coard.

Angela emigrated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with both children in 1981, while Maurice Bishop was still prime minister.

Maurice Bishop fathered a son, Vladimir Creft, with his longtime partner Jacqueline Creft, who was Grenada's Minister of Education.