National

Our People: Sir Lynden Pindling

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The Rt. Hon. Sir Lynden Pindling is called the “Father of the Nation” and one of the longest-serving heads of government in the Commonwealth.

Published

10 months ago

July 7, 2023

Jerome Sawyer

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The Rt. Hon. Sir Lynden Pindling is widely considered the “Father of the Nation”.

On August 26th, 2000, he passed away quietly at his Skyline Drive home at the age of 70.

He is one of the longest-serving heads of government in the Commonwealth, serving as prime minister for 26 years leading the country to independence.

As prime minister, he served as a member of the House of Assembly for 41 consecutive years.

The grandson of a Bahamian seaman, son of a retired policeman, he was born on March 22nd, 1930.

He attended Government High School up to 1946.

He became a junior sprint champion of The Bahamas at 18. Sir Lynden traveled to the University of London and obtained an LLB. He was called to The Bahamas’ Bar in 1953. The same year he joined the Progressive Liberal Party and was elected in 1965 to the southern district of New Providence.

In the 1967 election – which ushered in Majority Rule. He ran for the Kemp’s Bay Andros constituency which he represented until his resignation in 1997.

Among his many accomplishments as prime minister – independence in 1973, he led his party to consecutive victories in ’67, ’68, ’72, ’77, ’82, and ’87.

Among his other notable achievements, he was chairman of the Biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting – CHOGM – in 1985, in Nassau hosting Queen Elizabeth on her fourth visit here.

Among the recognition around the world, he received a 1973 honorary Doctor of Laws from Howard University. Similar awards came from the University of Miami, Bethune- Cookman College and Fisk University. He also became a member of the Queen’s Privy Council in 1976.

He was elevated to Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1983. Nassau’s main airport was named in his honor in 2006.

In his final speech to Parliament in July of 1997, he said, “When all I did for good is put on the balance against all I did for ill, I hope that future generations will not find me sorely wanting.”