Profile Text
portrait of Shearer on Jamaican banknote, photo by johan10 /Bigstock.com
Birth Name: Hugh Lawson Shearer
Date of Birth: May 18, 1923
Place of Birth: Martha Brae, Trelawny Parish, British Jamaica
Date of Death: July 15, 2004
Place of Death: Kingston, Jamaica
Ethnicity: African-Jamaican
Hugh Shearer was a Jamaican trade unionist and politician. He served as Prime Minister of Jamaica , from 11 April, 1967 to 2 March, 1972. He was also Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party, from 1967 to November 1974, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, from 1980 to 1989, and Deputy Prime Minister of Jamaica, from November 1980 to February 1989.
Hugh was the son of Esther (Lindo) and James Shearer. He was married to Denise Eldemire, until his death. Her father, Herbert Eldemire, was Jamaica’s first Health Minister. Hugh had three children with his former wife Lunette Shearer.
Hugh’s mother’s surname, Lindo, is usually Sephardi Jewish. However, it is not clear if Hugh had Sephardi ancestry.