Lennox Honychurch

Lennox Honychurch (born December 27, 1952) is Dominica's most noted historian and a politician. He is well known for writing 1975's The Dominica Story, the 1980s textbook series The Caribbean People, and the 1991 travel book Dominica: Isle of Adventure. He was largely responsible for compiling the exhibit information for The Dominica Museum in Roseau. Honychurch is the grandson of writer and politician Elma Napier.[1]

Biography

Born in Portsmouth, Dominica, Lennox Honychurch can trace his lineage in the Caribbean back to the 1790s.[2]

Honychurch attended the St. Mary's Academy secondary school.[3] After publishing several works on the history of Dominica, Honychurch was awarded the Chevening Scholarship[4] to study at Oxford University, where he gained a PhD at St. Hugh's College.[3] He read for his MPhil and PhD in Anthropology and Museology in 1995.[5]

Honychurch's first job in the early 1970s was as a radio journalist, enabling him to reach out to locals about the island's history with a series of radio vignettes.[5]

Honychurch serves as a board member and founder of the Museum Association of the Caribbean.[2] He was instrumental in setting up Dominica's national museum in Roseau and has consulted at other museums and heritage sites throughout the Caribbean, including the Betty's Hope Plantation in Antigua, Fort Frederick in Grenada and Fort Charlotte in St Vincent.[5] He is developing an ecology and heritage center in the history buildings around Fort Shirley, an 18th-century garrison in Cabrits National Park. This work includes training tour guides and providing education on sustainable, responsible tourism for communities around heritage sites.[6]

Political career

Honychurch served as a senator in the House of Assembly of Dominica from 1975 to 1979 as a member of the Dominica Freedom Party (DFP). When the DFP formed the government in 1980 he also served as Press Secretary to The Government of Dominica until 1981.[7]

Work as historian

Honychurch's writing describes the history of Dominica and includes The Dominica Story, first published in 1975, Dominica: Isle of Adventure, published in 1991, a three-book series entitled The Caribbean People (1995), Dominica's Cabrits and Prince Rupert's Bay (2013),[8] and In the Forests of Freedom: The Fighting Maroons of Dominica (2017).

In addition to his books, Honychurch has published several academic articles and organized the first international conference on Dominican writer Jean Rhys in 2004.

Honychurch is an expert in the First Peoples of the Caribbean and has collected archival material related to Amerindian-African contact.[6] His graduate theses focused on the contact and culture exchange which took place between the indigenous Kalinago people of the Lesser Antilles and the people who arrived from Europe and Africa.[4]

Work as artist

Honychurch is a poet and painter.[6] His murals adorn churches throughout Dominica, the main post office in Roseau, and the national museum. He is also a Carnival artist.[2]

Awards

On April 9, 2011, Honychurch was awarded the Anthony N. Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence, in the category of Arts and Letters.[9][10]

In 2012, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of the West Indies[11] and is an Honorary Research Fellow at the university.[4]

He is a recipient of the Golden Drum Award for preservation of Dominica's cultural heritage as well as the Dominica Sisserou Medal of Honour for his contribution to historical and archaeological research.[4]

Selected writings
  • The Dominica Story (1975)
  • Dominica: Isle of Adventure (1991)
  • Caribbean Camera: A Journey Through the Islands (1992)
  • The Caribbean People (three-book series; 1995)
  • Dominica's Cabrits and Prince Rupert's Bay (2013)
  • In the Forests of Freedom: The Fighting Maroons of Dominica (2017)

References
  1. Lisa Paravisini, "Elma Napier's Black and White Sands at the Dominica literary festival", Repeating Islands, August 16, 2009.
  2. Issue 15, Sharon Almerigi | (1995-07-01). "Lennox Honychurch: Love for an Island". Caribbean Beat Magazine. Retrieved 2020-06-14.
  3. Lisa Paravisini, "Dominica Times profiles Lennox Honychurch as he wins Sabga Award", Repeating Islands, April 20, 2011.
  4. "The UWI to host Inaugural Eastern Caribbean Lecture in Saint Lucia". sta.uwi.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-14.
  5. "Lennox Honychurch: Icon of The Island", Raymond Ramcharitar, December 2011.
  6. "Dr. Lennox Honychurch". ANSA Caribbean Awards for Excellence. Retrieved 2020-06-14.
  7. "About me" Archived 2008-07-08 at the Wayback Machine, lennoxhonychurch.com, accessed June 12, 2008.
  8. "Dr. Lennox Honychurch Releases New Book", Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica, 28 August 2013.
  9. Michelle Loubon, "Laureates shine", Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, April 17, 2011.
  10. Ivette Romero, "Dominica's Lennox Honychurch Receives Award for Excellence", Repeating Islands, April 19, 2011.
  11. "Lennox Honychurch to receive UWI honourary doctorate", Dominica News Onliney, July 30, 2012.
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