Pearlette Louisy : Ask Biography

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Dame (Calliopa) Pearlette Louisy, GCMG (born 8 June 1946) is the Governor-General of Saint Lucia. She is the first woman to hold this office, which she was sworn into on 19 September 1997.

Born in the village of Laborie she attended the Laborie Infant School and Primary Schools. In 1960 she proceeded to the Saint Joseph's Convent on the Javouhey Scholarship. In 1966, a year after the completion of her secondary education she was awarded the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) scholarship to pursue a Bachelors’ Degree in English and French at the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill, Barbados.

In 1972, she was awarded the Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan to pursue a M.A. degree in Linguistics, in the field of Didactics at the Université Laval in Quebec City, Canada. In 1991, she proceeded to the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom where she read for a Ph.D. degree in Education.

Louisy has contributed significantly to the development of Education in Saint Lucia, having spent most of her professional life in the teaching profession. During the periods 1969-72 and 1975-76 she taught at the St Joseph's Convent. From 1976-86, she served as a tutor of French, and was subsequently appointed as Principal of the St. Lucia A Level College. When the A Level College and Morne Technical School merged into the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, she first served as Dean, and was subsequently appointed as the Vice Principal and Principal of the College.

In 1999, she was awarded with the Honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) by the University of Bristol. In that same year, Queen Elizabeth II, conferred on her the title of Dame Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George.