Eric Eustace Williams

Born Sept. 25, 1911, in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. Political and state figure of Trinidad and Tobago; historian.

Williams, who graduated from Oxford University, was a professor at Howard University, in Washington, D.C., from 1939 to 1947. In 1948 he became a member of the Anglo-American Commission (later the Caribbean Commission), withdrawing in 1955. He subsequently held several government positions in Trinidad, beginning with that of chief minister from 1956 to 1958. From 1958 to 1962 he served as prime minister, as minister of finance, planning, and development, and as minister of foreign affairs. In September 1962, Williams became prime minister of the newly independent state of Trinidad and Tobago. While occupying that office, he also served at various times as minister of foreign affairs (1962–64 and 1973–75), minister of social development (1964), and minister of finance (1967 and 1977–78). Williams was the leader of the People’s National Movement, the nation’s ruling party.