St Lucia has produced two Nobel prizewinners, Sir Arthur W. Lewis, an economist, and Derek Walcott, a poet, playwright and educator. A St Lucia honeymoon [http://www.ladera.com/Weddings/tabid/360/Default.aspx] occurs in a cultured environment.
Sir Lewis was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1979 based on his work investigating the nature of labor in developing countries. The economist was the first person of African heritage to be awarded the Nobel Prize in a category other than peace, was educated at the London School of Economics, in England, and went on to have a long teaching career at the University of Manchester. He was knighted in 1963, and received a Nobel Prize in 1979. He died in Barbados in 1991.
During his life he remained committed to the Caribbean and to St Lucia, and was buried on the grounds of St Lucia Community College.
Derek Walcott, who was born in Castries, St Lucia in 1930, was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1992. A magical realist, Walcott combines myths from many cultures of the world to create a tapestry that represents the hybridization of Caribbean culture. Walcott has spent most of his career teaching at Boston University, and has worked hard to develop resources for playwrights in the Caribbean.
St Lucia has long been an international crossroads. Early indigenous inhabitants arrived from both South and Central America, as well as from other islands in the Caribbean, while French and British colonial occupation, combined with the efforts of African and South Asian transplants, brought over to crow crops such as tobacco and sugar, means that St Lucian culture is a rich patois of different influences. The commitment of Sir Lewis and Derek Walcott to their island home speaks of the high regard St Lucians place on culture, and the continuing influence of Caribbean culture. It's an opportunity to bask in an established and complex culture that offers much to those who seek it out, just outside the door of their Caribbean hotel.
Sir Lewis was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1979 based on his work investigating the nature of labor in developing countries. The economist was the first person of African heritage to be awarded the Nobel Prize in a category other than peace, was educated at the London School of Economics, in England, and went on to have a long teaching career at the University of Manchester. He was knighted in 1963, and received a Nobel Prize in 1979. He died in Barbados in 1991.
During his life he remained committed to the Caribbean and to St Lucia, and was buried on the grounds of St Lucia Community College.
Derek Walcott, who was born in Castries, St Lucia in 1930, was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1992. A magical realist, Walcott combines myths from many cultures of the world to create a tapestry that represents the hybridization of Caribbean culture. Walcott has spent most of his career teaching at Boston University, and has worked hard to develop resources for playwrights in the Caribbean.
St Lucia has long been an international crossroads. Early indigenous inhabitants arrived from both South and Central America, as well as from other islands in the Caribbean, while French and British colonial occupation, combined with the efforts of African and South Asian transplants, brought over to crow crops such as tobacco and sugar, means that St Lucian culture is a rich patois of different influences. The commitment of Sir Lewis and Derek Walcott to their island home speaks of the high regard St Lucians place on culture, and the continuing influence of Caribbean culture. It's an opportunity to bask in an established and complex culture that offers much to those who seek it out, just outside the door of their Caribbean hotel.