Eugenia Charles
Politician Dame Mary Eugenia Charles served as Dominica's prime minister from 21 July 1980 to 14 June 1995. She was Dominica's first female lawyer and, as of yet, its only female prime minister.
Near the Dominican Republic's Parish of Saint Luke, in the fishing community of Pointe Michel, Eugenia Charles was born on May 15, 1919. She is the youngest of John Baptiste Charles and Josephine Charles' four daughters. Her family is regarded as a member of the "black bourgeoisie," which includes free people of color. Her father was a builder who amassed a fortune via land ownership and had an interest in the import and export industry. She attended Dominica's Convent High School before transferring to Grenada's sole girls' high school. After that, while employed by the colonial magistrate's court, Charles developed an interest in law. She assisted Alastair Forbes for a very long time. In 1947, Charles graduated with a Bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto in Canada. She next relocated to the UK to enroll in the London School of Economics, where she graduated from the University in 1949 with a Bachelor's degree.
In the 1960s, Charles started to advocate politically for journalistic freedom. For The Herald and The Star, she has penned anonymous pieces in which she has criticized the Dominican Labor Party's administration. She joined Freedom Fighters, an organization that fought the Ambitious and Unwanted Publication Act, in 1967. The organization joined forces with the Dominican National Democratic Movement in October 1968 to form the Dominican Liberal Party. In June 1969, during the party's inaugural congress, Charles was chosen as leader, a post she would maintain until 1995. Patrick John defeated Charles in the 1970 general election when he ran for a seat in Roseau North. In the 1975 general election, she was chosen to represent Roseau Central in the House of Commons and later rose to the post of leader of the opposition. Charles ardently supported Dominica's ultimate independence from British authority in 1978 and served as a delegate to the 1977 constitutional conference held at Marlborough House in London. She was a part of the Committee to Save the Country in 1979, which following Patrick John's resignation established a transitional government.
Following the DFP's first electoral victory in the 1980 general election, Charles was appointed prime minister. She succeeded Oliver Seraphin, who had only been in charge for a year when Patrick John, the nation's first prime minister, was forced to resign as a result of widespread demonstrations. When Hurricane David hit Dominica on August 29, 1979, she spent her first term concentrating on restoring infrastructure and disaster relief. She has held positions as the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States' president, the Dominican Republic's Minister of Finance from 1980 to 1995, and the Foreign Minister from 1980 to 1990.
