Janet Jagan
Janet Rosalie Jagan née
Rosenberg (born
20 October 1920 in
Chicago, Illinois,
United States) was
President of
Guyana from
19 December 1997 to
11 August 1999, and also served as
Prime Minister from
17 March 1997 up until her appointment as President.
She was married to
Cheddi Jagan, a Prime Minister and President of Guyana well known for his leftist leanings, from
1943 until his death in
1997. Janet Jagan was a
communist political activist in her youth but moderated her stance later in her career. After Dr. Jagan's death, Janet Jagan was elected President and served in that capacity from
1997 to
1999, when she resigned for health reasons. She became the second female President in the history of
South America (after
Isabel Perón of
Argentina) and the first to be democratically elected.
In the Guyanese context, Janet not only became the first
female President of
Guyana, but she was also the first U.S.-born and white woman to lead the nation. Janet handed the Presidency to Finance Minister
Bharrat Jagdeo, marking the end of an important era in the ruling party's history and the beginning of a new and challenging one.
Being both
Marxist and
Jewish, she was the subject of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories in the United States; there were false reports that she is related to
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.
Janet Jagan has long been involved with the literary and cultural life of Guyana. She published early
Martin Carter poems in Thunder (which she edited) and supported the publication of early Carter collections such as
The Hill of Fire Glows Red. She had long been a teller of stories to her children and grandchildren and was strongly concerned that Guyanese children should have books that reflected themselves. In
1993 Peepal Tree Press published her
When Grandpa Cheddi was a Boy and Other Stories, followed by
Patricia, the Baby Manatee (1995),
Anastasia the Ant-Eater (1997) and
The Dog Who Loved Flowers.
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Jagan website
