"Errol-Barrow" (January 21,1920-June 1,1987)

Was a  Carribbean statesman and the first Prime Minister of  Barbados.Born into a family of political and civil activists in the parish of  Saint Lucy,he was educated at Harrison College.He was known as
"Dipper Barrow" within the country itself.

He served in the Royal Air Force during World War II.He enlisted in the
RAF on December 31 1940 and flew some 45 operational bombing missions over the European Theatre.By 1945 he had risen to the rank of
Flying Officer and was appointed as personal navigator to the Commander in Chief of the  British Zone of  occupied Germany,Sir  William Sholto Douglass.

After the war he studied law at the Inns of  Court and economics at the
London School  of Economics concurrently,taking degrees in 1949 & 1950 respectively.He also served during that time  as chairman of the
Council of  Colonial students where his contemporaries included Forbes
Burnham,Michael Manley,and Lee Kwan Yew,all destined to become political  leaders in their  home countries.

He returned to Barbados in 1950 and was elected to the Barbados Parliament in 1951 as a member of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP).
Feeling the fever of anti-colonialism he had inculcated during his students day in London,he quickly became dissatisfied by the incremental approach to change advocate by the party stalwarts.In 1955 he founded the Democratic Labour Party as a progressive alternative to the BLP.He became its leader  in 1958  and the party won
parliamentary elections in 1961 within his constituency of  St.John.Errol
served as premier of Barbados from 1961-1966  when,after leading the
country to Independence from Great Britain,he became Prime Minister.
He served continuously in that capacity as well as stints as Minister of  Finance,and Minister of Foreign Affairs for the next ten years.During this period he had lengthy affair with American Musician Nina Simone,
who had fled to Barbados to avoid prosecution for tax resistance.

During his tenure the DLP government accelerated industrial development,expanded the tourist industry to reduce the island's economic dependence on sugar,introduced National Health Insurance
and Social Security,and expanded  free education to all leavels.

Erroll was dedicated proponent of regional integration, spreading heading the foundation of the  Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) in 1965.Eight years later CARIFTA evolved into
the Caribbean Community (CARICOM),when Errol,together with Forbes Burnham,of  Guyana,Dr.Eric Williams of  Trinidad & Tobago and Michael Manley of  Jamaica enacted the Treaty of  Chaguaramas to bolster political and economic relations between the English-speaking Caribbean territories.

After another landslide victory in1971,the DLP returned to the electorate in 1976 for a mandate after two years of bitter controversy over constitutional amendments put forth by the government.Errol,who had invited public comment on the amendments verbally lashed out at those who had been critical  of what he viewed as a minor procedural change in the  appointment  of  judges.A general economic downturn which affected most in the hemisphere  contributed to a shift in public
sentiment resulting in the party's election defeat.

As an indomitable  advocate of  Caribbean  sovereignty he fiercely opposed interference in Caribbean affairs.As opposition leader in 1983 he spoke out forcefully against  the United States Invasion of  Grenada
and he was  scathing in his criticism  of  other Caribbean leaders who kow-towed  to Washington in the hope  of  getting economic handouts:


"Mr.Seaga (Prime Minister of Jamaica,Edward Seaga) thinks that the solution to Jamaica's problems is to get  President Reagon to play Santa Claus.I do not believe Santa Claus."

In May 1986,after 10 years in opposition,Errol  was re-elected as Prime
Minister in a landslide victory in which the DLP won 24 of 27 seats in the House of  Assembly.The campaign was notable for address he gave at a political rally some two weeks before the election which came to be
known as the "Mirror image" speech.In it,Errol rhetorically asked Barbadians what kind of a future they saw for themselves when they looked in the mirror,contrasting a life of menial labour as an émigré in
the developed world,or staying and  building a strong and independent
Barbados to rival other small states like Singapore.

His re-election served as a catalyst for resurgent nationalism in the region,which by  and large had subordinated itself to U.S. aid policy in the early 1980s.Errol wasted no time in distancing himself from the "mendicant mentality" of his predecessors  J.M.G.Adams and Bernard St.John.In his first press conference as Prime Minister he referred to Reagan as "that cowboy in the Whitehouse."In a British interview he
characterized the President of  the United States as a "zombie; he's
programmed,a very dangerous person."

He chastised  Washington for its treatment of not only the Caribbean states,also  of  Canada and the United Kingdom,which he described as Barbados' closest allies.His political opponents deemed  his attacks on Regan "tactically stupid," for most Barbadians his outspokenness meant that "The Skipper" was back.

A year after his re-election,Prime Minister  Errol Barrow collapsed at his home,becoming the second sitting  Prime Minister  to die in office.

By an act Parliament  in 1998,Errol was named  as one of the ten National Heroes Barbados.

His sister Nita Barrow,also became a social activist,humanitarian leader
and later Governor General Barbados.