The Most Famous

POLITICIANS from Trinidad and Tobago

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This page contains a list of the greatest Trinidadian Politicians. The pantheon dataset contains 19,576 Politicians, 11 of which were born in Trinidad and Tobago. This makes Trinidad and Tobago the birth place of the 140th most number of Politicians behind Monaco, and Mauritania.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Trinidadian Politicians of all time. This list of famous Trinidadian 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 Trinidadian Politicians.

Photo of Keith Rowley

1. Keith Rowley (b. 1949)

With an HPI of 50.53, Keith Rowley is the most famous Trinidadian Politician.  Her biography has been translated into 29 different languages on wikipedia.

Keith Christopher Rowley , (born 24 October 1949) is a Trinidadian politician serving as the seventh prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, first elected into office on 9 September 2015 and again following the 2020 general election. He has led the People's National Movement (PNM) since May 2010 and was Leader of the Opposition from 2010 to 2015. He has also served as the Member of the House of Representatives for Diego Martin West since 1991. He is a volcanologist by profession, holding a doctorate in geology, specializing in geochemistry.

Photo of George Maxwell Richards

2. George Maxwell Richards (1931 - 2018)

With an HPI of 48.79, George Maxwell Richards is the 2nd most famous Trinidadian Politician.  His biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

George Maxwell Richards (1 December 1931 – 8 January 2018) was a Trinidadian politician who served as the fourth president of Trinidad and Tobago, in office from 2003 to 2013. He was the first president of Trinidad and Tobago and head of state in the Anglophone Caribbean to have Amerindian ancestry. A chemical engineer by training, Richards was Principal of the St. Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies in Trinidad from 1984 to 1996. He previously worked for Shell Trinidad Ltd before joining the University of the West Indies in 1965. He was sworn into office as president on 17 March 2003 for a five-year term.

Photo of Paula-Mae Weekes

3. Paula-Mae Weekes (b. 1958)

With an HPI of 48.54, Paula-Mae Weekes is the 3rd most famous Trinidadian Politician.  Her biography has been translated into 36 different languages.

Paula-Mae Weekes (born 23 December 1958) is a Trinidad and Tobago politician and jurist who was the sixth president of Trinidad and Tobago from 2018 to 2023. She is the first female President of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the second female head of state in Trinidad and Tobago after Elizabeth II and the second female president of African descent in the Americas following Ertha Pascal-Trouillot.

Photo of Basdeo Panday

4. Basdeo Panday (1933 - 2024)

With an HPI of 47.84, Basdeo Panday is the 4th most famous Trinidadian Politician.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Basdeo Panday (pronounced [bɑːsəd̪eːoː pɑːⁿɖeː]; 25 May 1933 – 1 January 2024) was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian statesman, lawyer, politician, trade unionist, economist, and actor who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 2001. He was the first person of Indian descent along with being the first Hindu to hold the office of Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. He was first elected to Parliament in 1976 as the Member for Couva North, Panday served as Leader of the Opposition four times between 1976 and 2010 and was a founding member of the United Labour Front (ULF), the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), and the United National Congress (UNC). He served as leader of the ULF and UNC, and was President General of the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers' Trade Union from 1973 to 1995. He was the chairman and party leader of the United National Congress. In 2006, Panday was convicted of failing to declare a bank account in London and imprisoned; however, on 20 March 2007, that conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal. On 1 May he decided to resign as chairman of the United National Congress, but the party's executive refused to accept his resignation. He lost the party's internal elections on 24 January 2010, to deputy leader and future prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. In 2005, he was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.

Photo of A. N. R. Robinson

5. A. N. R. Robinson (1926 - 2014)

With an HPI of 45.69, A. N. R. Robinson is the 5th most famous Trinidadian Politician.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson (16 December 1926 – 9 April 2014; known as A. N. R. or "Ray" Robinson), was a Trinidadian politician who was the third president of the country, serving from 19 March 1997 to 17 March 2003. He was also Trinidad and Tobago's third prime minister, serving in that capacity from 18 December 1986 to 17 December 1991. He is recognized for his proposal that eventually led to the founding of the International Criminal Court. Robinson was the first active politician to be elected to the presidency, and was the first presidential candidate who was not elected unopposed (the Opposition People's National Movement nominated Justice Anthony Lucky as its candidate for president). President Robinson sparked controversy in his term in office when he refused to appoint certain senators recommended by Prime Minister Basdeo Panday following the elections in 2000 and in 2001 when he appointed the Leader of the Opposition Patrick Manning to the position of prime minister after a tied election.

Photo of Christine Kangaloo

6. Christine Kangaloo (b. 1961)

With an HPI of 43.80, Christine Kangaloo is the 6th most famous Trinidadian Politician.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Christine Carla Kangaloo (born 1 December 1961) is a Trinidadian politician, who is the president of Trinidad and Tobago since 2023. She was president of the Senate of Trinidad and Tobago from 2015 until her resignation to run for president in 2023. She is the only person to serve as both President and Vice President of the Senate of Trinidad and Tobago, the first woman to serve as Senate Vice President and third woman to serve as acting President of Trinidad and Tobago and Senate President. She became the second woman to serve as President of Trinidad and Tobago upon her assumption of office on 20 March 2023. Kangaloo has served as an Opposition Senator, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Minister of Legal Affairs and Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education in previous People's National Movement governments.

Photo of Anthony Carmona

7. Anthony Carmona (b. 1953)

With an HPI of 43.30, Anthony Carmona is the 7th most famous Trinidadian Politician.  His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Anthony Thomas Aquinas Carmona (born 7 March 1953) is a Trinidadian politician who was the fifth President of Trinidad and Tobago from 2013 to 2018. Previously, he was a High Court Judge at the Supreme Court of Trinidad and Tobago, and he served as a Judge of the International Criminal Court from 2012 to 2013.

Photo of Eric Williams

8. Eric Williams (1911 - 1981)

With an HPI of 43.03, Eric Williams is the 8th most famous Trinidadian Politician.  Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Eric Eustace Williams (25 September 1911 – 29 March 1981) was a Trinidad and Tobago politician. He has been described as the "Father of the Nation", having led the then-British Colony of Trinidad and Tobago to majority rule on 28 October 1956, to independence on 31 August 1962, and republic status on 1 August 1976, leading an unbroken string of general elections victories with his political party, the People's National Movement, until his death in 1981. He was the first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and also a Caribbean historian, most noted for his book entitled Capitalism and Slavery.

Photo of Kamla Persad-Bissessar

9. Kamla Persad-Bissessar (b. 1952)

With an HPI of 42.76, Kamla Persad-Bissessar is the 9th most famous Trinidadian Politician.  Her biography has been translated into 39 different languages.

Kamla Persad-Bissessar (pronounced [kəmlɑː prəsɑːd̪-biseːsər] (); born Kamla Susheila Persad, 22 April 1952), often referred to by her initials KPB, is a Trinidadian lawyer, politician and educator who is the Leader of the Opposition of Trinidad and Tobago, political leader of the United National Congress (UNC) political party, and was the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 26 May 2010 until 9 September 2015. She was the country's first female prime minister, attorney general, and Leader of the Opposition, the first woman to chair the Commonwealth of Nations and the first woman of Indian origin to be a prime minister of a country outside of India and the wider subcontinent. Persad-Bissessar became political leader of the UNC in 2010. In 2011, Persad-Bissessar was named the thirteenth most influential female leader around the world by Time magazine. Persad-Bissessar held the premiership from May 2010 to September 2015, where she was also the leader of the People's Partnership - a political coalition of centre and center-left wing parties that governed the country. Since September 2015, she has been the Leader of the Opposition of Trinidad and Tobago. After the coalition disbanded in September 2015, following their electoral defeat, Persad-Bissessar attempted to regain power in the August 2020 elections; however, the UNC only managed to increase their seat count by 2 and the popular vote by 20,000. Nonetheless, the PNM under the leadership of Keith Rowley (who later became Trinidad and Tobago's seventh Prime Minister) maintained power and was re-elected, however, with a smaller majority.

Photo of Patrick Manning

10. Patrick Manning (1946 - 2016)

With an HPI of 42.16, Patrick Manning is the 10th most famous Trinidadian Politician.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning (17 August 1946 – 2 July 2016) was a Trinidad and Tobago politician who was the fourth prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago; his terms ran from 17 December 1991 to 9 November 1995 and from 24 December 2001 to 26 May 2010. He was also the political leader of the People's National Movement (PNM) from 1987 to 2010. A geologist by training, Manning served as Member of Parliament for the San Fernando East constituency from 1971 until 2015 when he was replaced by Randall Mitchell, but with the seat in 2020 being won by his son Brian Manning. Patrick Manning was the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives. He was the Leader of the Opposition from 1986 to 1990 and again from 1995 to 2001. Manning was born in San Fernando and received his secondary education at Presentation College, San Fernando, and his bachelor's degree from the University of the West Indies at Mona, in 1969. After graduation, he returned to Trinidad, where he worked as a geologist for Texaco. Trinidadian historian Dr Bridget Brereton published his biography in May 2024 titled, Manning.

People

Pantheon has 12 people classified as Trinidadian politicians born between 1911 and 1961. Of these 12, 5 (41.67%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Trinidadian politicians include Keith Rowley, Paula-Mae Weekes, and Christine Kangaloo. The most famous deceased Trinidadian politicians include George Maxwell Richards, Basdeo Panday, and A. N. R. Robinson. As of April 2024, 1 new Trinidadian politicians have been added to Pantheon including Christine Kangaloo.

Living Trinidadian Politicians

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Deceased Trinidadian Politicians

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Newly Added Trinidadian Politicians (2024)

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Overlapping Lives

Which Politicians were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 7 most globally memorable Politicians since 1700.