Elmira Minita Gordon

Dame Elmira Minita Gordon GCMG GCVO JP (30 December 1930 – 1 January 2021) was a Belizean educator, psychologist and politician; she served as the first governor general of Belize from its independence in 1981 until 1993. She was the first Belizean to receive a doctorate in psychology. She is one of the few "double dames", having received damehoods in two separate orders: the Order of St Michael and St George and the Royal Victorian Order.

Dame Elmira Minita Gordon GCMG GCVO JP
1st Governor-General of Belize
In office 21 September 1981 – 17 November 1993
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	George Cadle Price Manuel Esquivel
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Colville Young
Personal details
Born	30 December 1930 Belize City, British Honduras
Died	1 January 2021 (aged 90) Inglewood, California, U.S.
Education	University of Nottingham University of Birmingham University of Calgary University of Toronto

Biography

Elmira Minita Gordon was born 30 December 1930 in Belize City, British Honduras.[1] Her parents, Frederick Gordon and May Dakers,[2] had immigrated from Jamaica to Lucky Strike, Belize in the 1920s.[3] Gordon had five siblings: Lincoln Coyi, Dorinda Henderson, Kelorah Franklin, Rolston Coyi, and Robert Reyes.[2] She grew up in Belize City, attending St. John's Girls' School and St. Mary's Primary. Gordon was a member of the Girl Guides from 1946.[4] Years later, in 1970 Gordon became the District Commissioner of the Girl Guides for the Belize district.[5]

Gordon continued her education at St. George's Teacher's College.[4] She also took a correspondence course from the College of Preceptors, Oxford, England.

After graduation, she began teaching at an Anglican school. She also served as a missionary throughout Belize between 1946 and 1958. From 1959 to 1969, she was a lecturer at the Belize Teacher's Training College.[5] From 1969 to 1981, she served as a Government Education Officer.[1]

Gordon completed her postgraduate education at the University of Nottingham and University of Birmingham in England and the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada.[4] Between 1977 and 1980, when Gordon was in Canada, she served on the Educational Psychology Programme Planning Committee and was a member of the Toronto Leather Craft Club. She earned her master's degree in educational psychology and then a doctorate in applied psychology from the University of Toronto, Canada, becoming the first trained Belizean psychologist.[5]

She returned from her studies in 1980.[4] In 1981 Gordon was appointed as Governor General of Belize.[6] She succeeded James P. I. Hennessy, the last Governor of Belize. She became the first Governor-General of Belize upon Belize gaining independence that year.[7]

Gordon became a justice of the peace in 1974[4] and a senior Justice of the Peace in 1987.[1] Gordon received a lifetime membership of the British Red Cross in 1975,[4] and in the Belizean Red Cross in 1981.[3] In addition to her public works, Gordon was a master leather crafts artisan, having won numerous prizes for her works.[1]

Gordon stepped down as Governor-General in 1993, and was succeeded by Colville Young.[8] In later years, poor health prompted her to move to the United States in 2016 to live with her sister, Kelorah Franklin.[2] She died on 1 January 2021, in Inglewood, California.[9]

Honours

• Honorary LL.D., University of Victoria (1984)[10]
• Dame Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (1984)[11]
• Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (1985)[12]

References

1. Sleeman 2001, p. 210.
2. "Dr. Dame Minita Gordon passes". Amandala Newspaper. 6 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
3. Alvarez, Vejea (4 January 2021). "Belize's First Woman Governor General Passes Away". LOVE FM (Belize). Retrieved 6 January 2021.
4. "Belize's First Governor General is Trailblazer of the Week". The Guardian. Belize City, Belize. 4 September 2014. Archived from the original on 3 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
5. "Belizean Biographies – Dame Elmira Minita Gordon". Belize National Library Service and Information System (BNLSIS). Belize City, Belize: Belize National Library Service. Archived from the original on 3 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
6. "Women Governors-General 1945–2005". Terra España. 2001. Archived from the original on 29 August 2005. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
7. Lentz 2014, p. 84.
8. "Belize's First Governor General Passes". Great Belize Television. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
9. "Dame Elmira Minita Gordon, trailblazing educator and first Governor-General, dead at 90". Breaking Belize News. 2 January 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
10. "UVic honorary degrees, 1961- - University of Victoria". www.uvic.ca. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
11. "Honours and Awards" (49665). London, England: The London Gazette. 6 March 1984. p. 3253. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
12. "Honours and Awards" (50333). London, UK: The London Gazette. 29 November 1985. p. 16780. Retrieved 3 September 2015.

Sources

• Lentz, Harris M. (2014). Heads of States and Governments Since 1945. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-26490-2.
• Sleeman, Elizabeth (2001). The International Who's Who of Women 2002. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-1-85743-122-3.