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Gérard A. Besson H.B.M., DLitt h.c.
Gérard A. Besson
Born	Port-of-Spain
Occupation	Writer, Independent Scholar, Publisher
Nationality	Trinidadian
Genre	History, Folklore, Historical Fiction, Magical Realism
Notable works	The Book of Trinidad, The Cult of the Will, From the Gates of Aksum
Notable awards	Hummingbird Medal Gold, Lifetime Achievement Award National Trust, Honorary Doctorate University of the West Indies

Gérard Anthony Besson, H.B.M., DLitt. h.c. (born 20 January 1942) is a Trinidadian writer, independent scholar and publisher. He received an Honorary Degree, that of Doctor of Letters, from the University of the West Indies in October of 2015 and was the recipient of a Trinidad & Tobago national award, the Humming Bird Medal Gold, for Heritage Preservation and Promotion in 2007. He was the recipient of the Lifetime Achiever Heritage Preservation Award from the National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago also in that year. His blog, The Caribbean History Archives, has received the attention of tens of thousands of persons who are interested in the history and culture of Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean, as it contains dozens of papers and articles written by Besson over several years.

Early life and education

Besson was born and raised in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in the West Indies. He was the only child of Margaret, née Joachim, and Joseph Besson. His maternal grandmother, Ella Louisa Joachim, née de Boissière, brought him up after the separation of his parents in a Catholic, Patois-speaking household.
He was educated at home by his grandmother and at Tranquility Kindergarten School until he was eight. Then, because of learning difficulties, he was placed under the care of Randolph Alan Young, principal of Saint Thomas High School. Leaving there at fifteen, he worked in insurance and in manufacturing companies. In 1965, after the deaths of his mother and grandmother, he left for England and travelled in Europe.

Personal life

Gérard Besson married Sheelagh Hezekiah in 1973. Their three sons are André, Aaron and Dominic. They separated in 1993 and were divorced in 1996. He married Alice Schwarz in 1998. His interests over the years have been the communication arts, writing, historical research, hiking and sailing.

Career

Upon his return to Trinidad and Tobago from Europe he joined Lonsdale Hands Advertising Company and later moved to NCK Advertising Co. In both agencies he worked as a copywriter and visualiser. In 1969 his work in the retail trade as advertising manager for a chain of stores pioneered the use of Afro-Caribbean models for up-market brands for the first time in Trinidad & Tobago. He joined K&E/CPV Advertising as an Art Director in 1972. In 1973 he, in company with teacher and arranger of steel-band music Clive Bradley, started Creative Advertising Co. Ltd. The work of the advertising agency included the creation of branding and public image campaigns for a number of state institutions as well as several firms in the private sector. During this time Besson worked as a Creative Director in all media.
In 1995 his company was merged with Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi, Trinidad & Tobago Ltd. where he was appointed Creative Director and invited to join the Board of Directors. He retired from Lonsdale Saatchi & Saatchi in 2002.

Paria Publishing Co. Ltd.

Besson formed Paria Publishing Co. Ltd in 1981. During this period Besson was brought into a circle of writers and artists who met at the home of historian Olga Mavrogordato. These included Fr. Anthony de Verteuil, historian and principal of St. Mary’s College; John Newel Lewis, architect and writer; Adrian Camps-Campins, artist; Michael Anthony, writer/historian; Sister Marie Therese Retoute, writer and educator; Jack Archibald, civil engineer, writer/historian; Ronald Harford, banker; and Wenda Parkinson, writer, amongst others. The group met for the purpose of maintaining and propagating through their work the history and cultural traditions of Trinidad and Tobago in the post-independence era. Besson was the fifth member of this group to have been awarded an honorary degree from the University of the West Indies for work in this field, the others being Fr. De Verteuil, Michael Anthony, Ronald Harford and Adrian Camps-Campins.
Paria Publishing Co. Ltd. was founded for the purpose of creating a historiography of Trinidad and Tobago. It commenced with the republication of out-of-print historical works on Trinidad and Tobago. These were to include The History of Trinidad under the Spanish Government by P. G. L. Borde in two volumes and J. B. Philip’s Free Mulatto, historical maps as well as portfolios of 19th century photographs and illustrations. To further these ends the company published and produced over time some one hundred and thirty titles produced by local historians as well as historical/educational board games and historical cards and calendars.

Public Life

Over the years, Besson served as a member of or advisor to various government-appointed work groups in Trinidad and Tobago. As such, he served for seven years on the campus council of the University of the West Indies (St. Augustine Campus) and was a director of the National Museum and Art Gallery of Trinidad. He was the convener of the cabinet-appointed work group occasioned by the centenary anniversary of Tobago becoming a ward of the unified colony of Trinidad and Tobago, 1887-1987. He was also appointed to the board of the National Trust.
During 2005, Besson served on the advisory council for the setting up of an Academy of Arts, Letters, Culture and Public Affairs of the University of Trinidad and Tobago. In 2011, he was appointed to serve on the Equal Opportunities Commission by the President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, His Excellency Professor George Maxwell Richards, on which he served until 2014.
Gérard Besson is a member of the Association of Caribbean Historians, an international organisation for the furthering of historical research and teaching of the Caribbean experience. He is also a member of the Caribbean Publishers’ Network; a pan-Caribbean association that supports and promotes indigenous publishing throughout the region.

Historical and Folklore Videos

The Life and Times of Michel-Jean Cazabon, Documentary (two parts), featuring the 1851 and 1856 portfolios for which he was recognised at the BWIA media awards for excellence in journalism, Best Documentary. 1983.
The Land of Beginnings, Series of three 1-hour historical documentaries on Trinidad and Tobago. 2002.

Museums/Museal Exhibits

The Museum at the House of Angostura (Opened 1998)
The City of Port of Spain Museum (Opened 2003)
The Museum of the Police Service of Trinidad and Tobago (Opened 2004)
The Pitch Lake Museum at La Brea Phase 1 (Opened 2009)
The Pitch Lake Museum at La Brea Phase 2 (Opened 2012)
Sugar Museum Phase 1, Sevilla House, Brechin Castle (Opened 2015)

Exhibitions

The Spirits of Trinidad and Tobago
Held at the Museum at the House of Angostura (2001)
This exhibition, which sought to show the folklore characters of Trinidad and Tobago displayed in a museum environment was based upon years of research in Tobago, and in Trinidad, in the villages of Paramin and Moruga.
The Spirit of Christmas — The Divine Child
Held at the Museum at the House of Angostura (2002)
This exhibition demonstrated the idea of the Divine Child expressed in various cultures worldwide over millennia, and was especially relevant to Trinidad and Tobago with its multi-cultural and multi-religious population.
The Spirit of Traditions
Held at the Museum at the House of Angostura (2003)
An exhibition produced in association with the Herbarium at the University of the West Indies, which demonstrated the very wide variety of flora whose application to various illnesses had been a folk tradition maintained by Trinidadians and Tobagonians over the centuries.
The Inauguration of the Continued Masonic Education
Held at the Heritage Library, Port of Spain (2004)
An exhibition to show the origins of the craft of Freemasonry in Trinidad in the last decades of the 18th century, its development and its principal personalities, together with a wide assortment of regalia and ritual objects.
The Road to Freedom (March/April 2007) and Emancipation in Trinidad and Tobago (July/August 2007)
These exhibitions held at the National Museum marked the anniversary of the end of the slave trade in the British Empire in 1807, and the Emancipation of the enslaved in 1838. These exhibitions displayed watercolours by Richard Bridgens of Trinidad’s early slave plantation society, together with a variety of objects and historical documents pertaining to the period of the abolition.

List of Works

Non-Fiction

A Photograph Album of Trinidad at the turn of the 19th Century (1985)
From Colonial to Republic (with Ryan, Selwyn) (1987)
The Book of Trinidad (with Brereton, Bridget) (1991, reissued 2010)
The Land of Beginnings, Series of 24 monthly historical newspaper supplements for Trinidad Newsday (2000/2001)
The Angostura Story (2000)
The Angostura Historical Digest (2002), a republication of selected articles published in Trinidad Newsday.
Essays on the East Indian Community in Trinidad and Tobago (for a publication by Merchant Ivory’s film production of The Mystic Masseur) (2003)
Scotiabank – The First 50 Years, the History of Scotiabank in Trinidad and Tobago (2004)
The History of Ansa McAL in the Caribbean, a 125th anniversary publication of the history of Alstons Limited, Charles McEnearney’s Limited, and the ANSA Group of Companies (2006)
The Cult of the Will, a study that deals with the complex issues of race, history and politics in Caribbean society (2010)

Fiction

Tales of the Paria Main Road (1973)
Folklore & Legends of Trinidad and Tobago (Book 1 and 2) (1991 & 2001)
The Voice in the Govi, a novella set in the Afro-French Creole society of Trinidad during the 19th century (2011)
From the Gates of Aksum, historical novel, an adventurous tale against the backdrop of the involvement of Trinidadians in the Wars of Liberation of South America (2013)
Roume de St. Laurent … A Memoir, historical novel based on the life of Philippe Rose Roume de Saint Laurent, a prominent figure in the colonisation of Trinidad in the late 18th century, whose career included being a judge in Grenada, an ordonnatueur in Tobago and twice as a commissioner to Saint-Domingue and to Santo Domingo in the formative period of the French revolution and the Haitian revolution (2016)

References

“Black Gold” Parts 1-3 (in: Trinidad and Tobago The Black Gold Book and Celbrating a Century of Comercial Oil Production, FIRST Magazine 2009, republished in First Magazine "The Black Gold Book")

“Trinidad’s Raj”, in: Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, First Magazine 2009

“How Rookery Nook Came To Be Named”, Brinsley Samaroo, Trinidad Guardian June 13, 2010

"Paradox of Wills", Kevin Baldeosingh, Trinidad and Tobago Review, July 2, 2010

"Eric Williams revisited", Selwyn Ryan, Trinidad Express, July 4, 2010

“Renaming Besson’s Book”, Marion O'Callaghan, Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, July 19, 2010

"Besson's cruel accusation" and "Single-mindedly Williams transformed our lives", Selwyn Cudjoe, Trinidad Guardian, July 23, 2010

“Besson writes ‘timely’ Book on Race Relations”, John Gaffar La Guerre, Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, July 25, 2010

"The Pathology of Politics", Ramesh Deosaran, Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, November 28, 2010

“Swearing-in for final 2 - Equal Opportunity Commission ready”, Trinidad Express, May 12, 2011

“Gerard Besson’s Govi”, Marion O'Callaghan, Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, August 15, 2011

“Besson, History and Folklore", Marion O'Callaghan, Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, August 22, 2011

Gerard Besson, website of the Equal Opportunity Commission Trinidad and Tobago, 2011

"The Voice in the Govi", Simon Lee, Trinidad Guardian, December 22, 2012

“Sidney Knox and the Birth of the Conglomorate”, in: Trinidad and Tobago: 50 Years of Independence, First Magazine 2012

“Creole Epic stands Tall”, Simon Lee, Trinidad Guardian, September 19, 2013

“A Masonic Thriller”, Bridget Brereton, Trinidad Express, September 25, 2013

“Trinidad in the Age of Fantasy”, Raymond Ramcharitar, Trinidad Guardian, September 29, 2013

Gerard Besson – Author, Historian, Publisher, Interview with Vernon Ramesar, IETV, August 30, 2013

Gerard Besson – Author – AKSUM, Interview with Vernon Ramesar, IETV, October 10, 2013

“I’m such a set of loose ends - Trinidadian historian and publisher Jerry Besson on his eccentric relatives and colourful career”, Judy Raymond, Caribbean Beat, Issue 136, 2015

“Rudder honoured by UWI”, Trinidad Guardian, October 25, 2015

“Besson urges graduates to be honest”, Miranda La Rose, October 25, 2015

Citation: Gérard A. Besson, Degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt), UWI Today, December 2015

Between Reality and Truth, UWI Today, December 2015