Ralph de Boissière

Ralph Anthony Charles de Boissière (6 October 1907 – 16 February 2008) was a Trinidad-born social realist novelist, who in 1948 settled in Melbourne, Australia. Described as "an outspoken opponent of racism, injustice, greed and corruption, a passionate humanist with a vision of a just society", de Boissière was the author of four novels although he was most acclaimed for the first two: Crown Jewel and Rum and Coca-Cola, both originally published in the 1950s. A fifth novel, titled Homeless in Paradise, remains unpublished. He attended Queen's Royal College and during this time discovered the Russian authors, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Gorky, Chekhov, Pushkin and Gogol, who were to remain a lasting influence:

Initially, de Boissière wished to become a concert pianist; however, on leaving school, he took a job as a salesman, which enlightened him to the living and working conditions of ordinary Trinidadians. He then became involved in left-wing and trade union politics, campaigning as well as writing. A story of his, "Booze and the Goberdaw", appeared in the 1929 Christmas issue of a short-lived publication called Trinidad, edited by Alfred Mendes and C. L. R. James. De Boissière became part of the group of young writers, including James, who published in Trinidad's first literary magazine The Beacon (March 1931 – November 1933), edited by Albert Gomes.

In 1935, de Boissière married Ivy Alcantara (died 1984) and they had two daughters.

Personal life In 2007, his centenary year, de Boissière married his longtime companion, Dr. Annie Greet, his fourth novel, Call of the Rainbow, was published in Melbourne, and in November, he received an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from the University of Trinidad and Tobago. His autobiography, Life on the Edge, was posthumously published (edited and introduced by Kenneth Ramchand) in 2010.

Death De Boissière died in Melbourne, Australia, on 16 February 2008, aged 100.