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George Ignatius Brizan
Former Prime Minister
Former Prime Minister
Term of Appointment: February 1995 -
June 1995
George Ignatius Brizan, was born October 31, 1942 in the parish of St.
David. He was educated at St. Dominic’s Roman Catholic Primary School and
at Presentation Brothers College and attended the University of Calgary,
Canada, Carlton University, Canada, the University of the West Indies and the
Grenada Teachers College. He holds a Certificate of Education from the
University of the West Indies, degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts
in History and Economics from the University of Calgary and a degree of Master
of Arts in International Economics Relations from Carlton University.
From 1963 to 1984 Mr. Brizan was employed by the Government of Grenada
in the education field, during which period he taught at the Grenada Boys
Secondary School and was a lecturer for the Institute for Further Education
(IFE) -now the T. A. Marryshow Community College. He also served as Acting
Principal of (IFE) and as Chief Education Officer in the Ministry of Education.
In 1971 Mr. Brizan was granted a Post-graduate Fellowship by the
University of Calgary and the Norman Paterson Fellowship was given to him in
1974 by Carlton University, Canada. Also, in 1981, Mr. Brizan Received the
International Development Research Centre (Canada) Award.
In 1984 Mr. Brizan entered politics and for three consecutive terms was
elected to the Grenada House of Representatives, first with the New National
Party and then with the National Democratic Congress. In 1987 George Brizan
formed and led the National Democratic Party, which later merged with the
Herbert Blaize led Grenada National Party and Dr. Francis Alexis led Grenada
Democratic Movement in August 1984 to create The New National Party (NNP).
In April 1987, Brizan went into opposition and founded the National
Democratic Congress (NDC). He was subsequently succeeded as NDC leader by
Nicholas Brathwaite. Braithwaite became Prime Minister following the NDC
victory in the 1990 general election.
George Brizan was elected head of the National Democratic Congress in
September 1994 following the resignation of Nicholas Braithwaite as party
leader. He then became Grenada’s sixth Prime Minister on February 1, 1995 and
served for four months when Braithwaite stepped down as Prime Minister and a
new Prime Minister was elected following NDC’s loss at the June 1995 General
Elections.
During his terms in office, the portfolios for which he has had
responsibility include that of Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture &
Tourism, Education & Youth, Finance, Trade, Industry & Energy. He
served as Leader of the Opposition from 1995 to 1999.
Mr. Brizan has been President of the African, Caribbean and Pacific
Council of Ministers of the Lome Convention and Chairman of the Standing
Committee of Caribbean Community Ministers responsible for Agriculture.
A prolific author, his publications include
“Grenada Island of Conflict”, “The Nutmeg Industry- Grenada’s Black Gold”, and
“The Education Reform Process”.
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