Adrian Cola Rienzi

Adrian Cola Rienzi (born Krishna Deonarine on 19 January 1905, died Desh Bandu on 21 July 1972) was a Trinidadian trade unionist, civil rights activist, politician and lawyer.

Early life and education Krishna Deonarine was born in Palmyra, Princes Town, Trinidad and Tobago to a Brahmin Indo-Trinidadian family whose original surname was Tiwari. His family originated from North India. His grandfather Chaithnath Tiwari had fled Bihar, India in order to escape British vengeance for participating in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. In Trinidad, his grandfather had married Lakshmi, the granddaughter of a general in the army of Babu Veer Kunwar Singh, who also had participated in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. His father, Deonarine Tiwari, squandered the inheritance from his grandfather and was forced to move the family to his grandmother's shop on Coffee Street in San Fernando. Krishna attended Naparima College, but his family's financial problems forced him to drop out during Form 3.

After leaving school, Deonarine took a job as a law clerk with the law firm of J.C. Hobson, a prominent lawyer, on Harris Promenade, in San Fernando. Hobson encouraged Deonarine to learn and lent him books from which he learned about Cola di Rienzo, fourteenth century Italian activist and patriot. Adrian Clarke, an English magistrate, also mentored Deonarine. He was also the first president of the Trinidad and Tobago Trades Union Council, from its foundation in 1938 until 1944.

Borough Council and Legislative Council Rienzi also served four terms on the San Fernando Borough Council (three as Mayor of San Fernando) and represented Victoria on the Legislative Council from 1937 to 1944. He then worked in the public service as a Crown Counsel.

Advocate for Indo-Trinidadians In addition to working for workers rights, Rienzi also worked for the rights of Indo-Trinidadians. He helped secure more employment of Indo-Trinidadians in the public service, the right to cremation, the recognition of Hindu and Muslim marriages and the establishment of schools by non-Christian religious groups.

Honours

The Rienzi-Kirton Highway in San Fernando is named partly in honour of him. The Rienzi Complex, former headquarters of the United National Congress and the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers' Trade Union, on the Southern Main Road in Exchange Village, Couva is named after him.