Biography of Dame Mary Eugenia Charles
Dame Mary Eugenia Charles was first put into the spotlight internationally as she was the first Caribbean female Prime Minister and then later again when she had a press conference with President Ronald Reagan addressing their action to be taken as a result of the recent killings of Grenada heads of government. In her time as head of Dominica she aslo represented as OECS chairman running forward as the negotitiator of for assistance in the invasion.
She was born in Pointe Michel on May 15, 1919 to a loving family. Her father was self made and became well know in his time for having import-export interests. Much like now where we have classes of families in this pesent time, back then under the British Rule her type of family was classified as the "colored bourgeoisie."
She worked at the Convent which at that time was the only all girls secondary school on island. Under the guidance she found herself in the magistrates court learning shorthand. There here unsuspecting passion for law was fed and thereafter went to university in Toronto and London establishing her place as Dominica's first female lawyer.
In the 1960s she entered the political arena to combat the negative movements of the government of the day. She helped construct the Dominica Freedom Party in 1968, entered the House of Assembly in 1970 and became an MP for the DFP in 1975. When the goverment flaunted its power in her face she used her exception knowledge of the law to her advantage and was able to counter the mind attack from the leading party.
A loner in the world of female politics she held her ground against personal harsh attacks from her opposers.Though a true hero for women's rights she never focused on addressing these problems per se.
Her victory finally came in the 1980 general elections. She gained her power during a time where Dominica really needed an uplifting and she was able to restore hope to an already weakened land.
As expected many coups were attempted during her rule - one of which was contrinuted by Patirck John former Prime Minister. She handled these situations so calmy and didnt shift an inch. She would not allow herslef to be manipulated by their tactics.
On whatever scale she had to work wheter it was regionally or internationally she performes her tasks with excellence. She left other politicians in awe with her ability to get straight to the point without splitting hairs.She worked towards keeping Dominica's banana economy alive and as a result Dominica had the best roads in the English speaking Caribbean.
Each time she contested for the general elections her popularity dropped by a significant number. She retired from politics in 1995 after her thrid term. She passed on September 6, 2005.