George Price - The Father of Belize

The Right Honorable George Cadle Price, P.C. (15 January 1919 – 19 September 2011), was a Belizean statesman who served twice as the head of government of Belize from 1961–84 and 1989–93. He served as First Minister and Premier under British rule until independence in 1981 and was the nation's first prime minister after independence that year. He is considered to have been one of the principal architects of Belizean independence. Today he is referred to by many as the "Father of the Nation." Price effectively dominated Belizean politics from the early 1960s until his 1996 retirement from party leadership, serving as the nation's head of government under various titles for most of that period. Born in Belize City in what was then British Honduras, to William and Irene (née Escalante) Price, he entered politics in 1947 with his election to the Belize City Council. In 1949, with the devaluation of the British Honduran dollar he, together with a group of citizens formed the People's Committee. It was the start of the "peaceful, constructive Belizean revolution". On 29 September 1950, he co-founded the People's United Party, which he led for four decades and which was devoted to the political and economic independence of the British colony, then known as British Honduras.