Jacqueline Creft

Jacqueline Creft (1946 – 19 October 1983) was a Grenadian politician, one of the leaders of the revolutionary New JEWEL Movement and Minister of Education in the People's Revolutionary Government from 1980 to 1983. She was executed in October 1983, along with Maurice Bishop, prime minister of the country and father of her son Vladimir (1977–1994).

Biography Early years of militancy of exile Jacqueline Creft studied political science at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and returned to Grenada at the end of 1971. She became involved in the revolutionary struggle early on, and was already participating in the New Jewel Movement from its beginning. In January 1973, she was among those who led an unprecedented protest against the British aristocrat Lord Brownlow, when he erected a gate on his estate of La Sagesse, denying the community its traditional privileges of access to the beach and use of the pastures. The protest was organized by members of JEWEL, including Maurice Bishop.

In 1976 and 1977, Creft resided in Trinidad and Tobago, where she was the regional coordinator for youth affairs within Christian Action for Development in the Eastern Caribbean (CADEC), a branch of the Caribbean Conference of Churches (CCC), until the government of Eric Williams (influenced by journalist Rickey Singh) banned her from the country. She returned to Grenada in 1977, but the government of Prime Minister Eric Gairy refused to give her work "as I was a new mother", Jacqueline complained.

On 4 December 1977, Creft's son Vladimir was born. She then travelled to Barbados with the organization Women and Development. She returned to Grenada to participate in the revolution of 13 March 1979.

The challenge of transforming the education system

In January 1980, Creft was appointed Minister of Education of the People's Revolutionary Government. She coordinated the Volunteer School Repair programmes and was in charge of Cuban scholarships. The revolution was especially committed to the construction of more schools and the eradication of illiteracy. Creft was dedicated to the transformation of the educational system inherited from colonialism, with the challenge of making it relevant to the population, and making education a right rather than a privilege.

In June 1982, Creft created, and was placed in charge of, the Ministry of Women's Affairs. The secretary of that ministry was Phyllis Coard, wife of Bernard Coard, who would later overthrow Bishop and execute him, along with Creft herself.

Creft left the party's leadership in November 1982, after having been active in it since its founding. In March 1983, Creft was demoted from candidate member to applicant member, though the reasons for this are not clear. According to writer David Franklyn, the situation was related to internal disputes in the movement between Bishop and Bernard Coard. The movement professed that the government would have co-leaders, but Bishop, though initially accepting and appointing Coard as vice president, changed his position and criticized Creft's support of Coard. The opposing faction, moreover, accused Bishop of sowing rumours that Coard planned to assassinate him.

In December 1986, 14 people (including Bernard and Phyllis Coard) were convicted of murder, and three of manslaughter – the so-called Grenada 17 – for their role in the killings.

Personal life According to texts published after her death, Creft had maintained a romantic relationship with Maurice Bishop since his time as a student at Carleton University, despite the fact that he was married. It was an "open" and public relationship. In the Wilberforce cemetery, there is a bust of Maurice Bishop next to the tombstone of Vladimir Creft, whose year of death is erroneously given as 1995. This information could not be confirmed, as Creft's body has not been found. Jacqueline Creft was survived by her mother and father Lynn and Allan Creft and four siblings: Colleen Mahy, Michael Creft, Claudette Warner and Selwyn Creft.