The Most Famous

POLITICIANS from Guyana

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This page contains a list of the greatest Guyanese Politicians. The pantheon dataset contains 19,576 Politicians, 10 of which were born in Guyana. This makes Guyana the birth place of the 147th most number of Politicians behind Timor-Leste, and Sierra Leone.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Guyanese Politicians of all time. This list of famous Guyanese Politicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Guyanese Politicians.

Photo of David A. Granger

1. David A. Granger (b. 1945)

With an HPI of 55.95, David A. Granger is the most famous Guyanese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 34 different languages on wikipedia.

David Arthur Granger (born 15 July 1945) is a Guyanese former politician and retired military officer who served as the ninth president of Guyana from 2015 to 2020. A member of the People’s National Congress (PNC), he previously served as Commander of the Guyana Defence Force and as National Security Adviser from 1990 to 1992. He was leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of Guyana from 2012 to 2015. Granger stood as the opposition coalition's presidential candidate in the November 2011 general election but was defeated. He was elected as President in the May 2015 general election. He lost a vote of confidence on 21 December 2018 that led to a snap election.

Photo of Arthur Chung

2. Arthur Chung (1918 - 2008)

With an HPI of 55.29, Arthur Chung is the 2nd most famous Guyanese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Arthur Raymond Chung (10 January 1918 – 23 June 2008) was President of Guyana from 17 March 1970 to 6 October 1980. He was the first ethnic Chinese (Chinese Caribbean) to be head of state in a non-Asian country. A leader in Guyana's fight for independence during the British colonial era, he was honoured with Guyana's highest national honour, the Order of Excellence (O.E.).

Photo of Cheddi Jagan

3. Cheddi Jagan (1918 - 1997)

With an HPI of 53.06, Cheddi Jagan is the 3rd most famous Guyanese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Cheddi Berret Jagan (22 March 1918 – 6 March 1997) was a Guyanese politician and dentist who was first elected Chief Minister in 1953 and later Premier of British Guiana from 1961 to 1964. He later served as President of Guyana from 1992 to his death in 1997. In 1953, he became the first Hindu and person of Indian descent to be a head of government outside of the Indian subcontinent. Jagan founded the People's Progressive Party along with his wife Janet and Forbes Burnham, and served as the first leader of the party. Jagan was a leading figure in the campaign for the independence of Guyana from the United Kingdom, and advocated for increased powers for trade unions at a time when British Guiana's economy was dominated by powerful foreign enterprises. Jagan lost his position as Prime Minister to Forbes Burnham following the 1964 British Guiana general election, and Burnham would become Guyana's first Head of Government following independence. 28 years later, Jagan was elected president in the 1992 Guyanese general election, which was regarded as the first "free and fair" election since 1964.

Photo of Sam Hinds

4. Sam Hinds (b. 1943)

With an HPI of 51.47, Sam Hinds is the 4th most famous Guyanese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Samuel Archibald Anthony Hinds (born 27 December 1943) is a Guyanese politician who was Prime Minister of Guyana almost continuously from 1992 to 2015. He also briefly served as President of Guyana in 1997. He was awarded Guyana's highest national award, the Order of Excellence (O.E.) in 2011. He first became prime minister under Cheddi Jagan in 1992, following the October 1992 election, which was won by the People's Progressive Party (PPP) welcoming Hinds and others (Civics) to work with them. When Jagan died in March 1997, Hinds became President himself, and appointed Jagan's widow Janet as prime minister. For the December 1997 general elections, the PPP/C nominated Hinds as candidate for prime minister while Janet Jagan was the candidate for the presidency. Following the election, Janet Jagan was elected president and re-appointed Hinds as prime minister. Prior to this, Hinds worked for the Alcan founded bauxite operation which was nationalized in 1971 rising to Vice President for Product Quality and Research and Development. By education, Hinds is a licensed and qualified chemical engineer, having graduated from the University of New Brunswick. In August 1999, President Janet Jagan decided to resign, and temporarily replaced Hinds with Bharrat Jagdeo; Jagdeo thus became president upon her resignation, and he reappointed Hinds as prime minister. After the re-election of the government in the 28 August 2006 election, Hinds was sworn in as prime minister again in early September. He was re-nominated as the 2011 prime ministerial candidate for the PPP in October 2011, although there were suggestions that he might step aside. After PPP/C candidate Donald Ramotar was elected president, Hinds was sworn in as prime minister again on 5 December 2011. Following the opposition's victory in the May 2015 general election, Hinds was succeeded as prime minister by Moses Nagamootoo on 20 May 2015. Sam Hinds is honored in the scientific name of a species of lizard, Kaieteurosaurus hindsi. Hinds has served as the Guyanese Ambassador to the United States since July 2021. He presented his credentials on 7 July 2021.

Photo of Donald Ramotar

5. Donald Ramotar (b. 1950)

With an HPI of 50.73, Donald Ramotar is the 5th most famous Guyanese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Donald Rabindranauth Ramotar (born 22 October 1950) is a Guyanese politician who was President of Guyana from 2011 to 2015. He was also the General Secretary of the People's Progressive Party (PPP) from 1997 to 2013.

Photo of Desmond Hoyte

6. Desmond Hoyte (1929 - 2002)

With an HPI of 49.28, Desmond Hoyte is the 6th most famous Guyanese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Hugh Desmond Hoyte (9 March 1929 – 22 December 2002) was a Guyanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Guyana from 1984 to 1985 and President of Guyana from 1985 until 1992.

Photo of Forbes Burnham

7. Forbes Burnham (1923 - 1985)

With an HPI of 48.53, Forbes Burnham is the 7th most famous Guyanese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham (20 February 1923 – 6 August 1985) was a Guyanese politician and the leader of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana from 1964 until his death in 1985. He 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 (2nd president overall) from 1980 to 1985. He is often regarded as a strongman who embraced his own version of socialism. Educated as a lawyer, Burnham was instrumental in the foundation of two political parties (the People's National Congress and the People's Progressive Party) that would come to dominate the politics of Guyana. During his time as head of government, Guyana moved from being a British colony to being a republic with no constitutional ties to the United Kingdom. His premiership was characterized by the nationalisation of foreign-owned private industries, membership of the Non-Aligned Movement and authoritarian domestic policy. Despite being widely regarded as having a significant role in the political, social, and economic development of Guyana, his presidency was marred by accusations of Afrocentrism, state-sanctioned violence, corruption, and electoral fraud.

Photo of Irfaan Ali

8. Irfaan Ali (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 48.25, Irfaan Ali is the 8th most famous Guyanese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Mohamed Irfaan Ali (born 25 April 1980) is a Guyanese politician serving as the tenth and current president of Guyana since 2020. A member of the People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), he previously served as the minister of Housing and Water from 2009 to 2015. He is the first Muslim to hold office, and is the second Muslim head of state in the Americas after Noor Hassanali of Trinidad and Tobago. Ali was a member of parliament (MP) and served as a cabinet minister under Donald Ramotar until 2015. In 2020, he became the presidential candidate for the People's Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C). He won the March 2020 general election. He was sworn in as Guyana's tenth president on 2 August 2020, months after his win, due to extensive legal challenges regarding the integrity of the election and a recount of all electoral ballots.

Photo of Moses Nagamootoo

9. Moses Nagamootoo (b. 1947)

With an HPI of 48.12, Moses Nagamootoo is the 9th most famous Guyanese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Moses Veerasammy Nagamootoo (Tamil: மோசஸ் வீராசாமி நாகமுத்து; born 30 November 1947) is a Guyanese politician, writer and novelist who served as the Prime Minister of Guyana under former President David A. Granger from May 2015 to August 2020.

Photo of Mark Phillips

10. Mark Phillips (b. 1961)

With an HPI of 47.73, Mark Phillips is the 10th most famous Guyanese Politician.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Mark Anthony Phillips (born 5 October 1961) is a Guyanese politician and retired military officer who is the prime minister of Guyana and first vice president under President Irfaan Ali since August 2020. He served as the chief of staff of the Guyana Defence Force from 2013 to 2016. He graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in September 1981. Phillips has a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Public Management from the University of Guyana, and a Masters of Science in Public Sector Management from La Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra. He also studied at the Inter-American Defense College in Washington D.C., and the United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

People

Pantheon has 12 people classified as Guyanese politicians born between 1918 and 1980. Of these 12, 8 (66.67%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Guyanese politicians include David A. Granger, Sam Hinds, and Donald Ramotar. The most famous deceased Guyanese politicians include Arthur Chung, Cheddi Jagan, and Desmond Hoyte. As of April 2024, 2 new Guyanese politicians have been added to Pantheon including Mark Phillips, and Hamilton Green.

Living Guyanese Politicians

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Deceased Guyanese Politicians

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Newly Added Guyanese Politicians (2024)

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Overlapping Lives

Which Politicians were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 4 most globally memorable Politicians since 1700.