Google is honouring celebrated economist and professor Sir W Arthur Lewis with a Doodle 41 years from the day he was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in economics.
Born in St Lucia on 23 January 1915, Lewis found himself excelling in school at a young age, and completing the curriculum entirely by 14.
In 1932, when he was finally old enough to sit the examination, Lewis was awarded a government scholarship to study at the London School of Economics – which is where he would eventually recognise economics as his passion.
However, according to Lewis, he arrived at the school with the intention of studying business administration before returning to St Lucia, as racially discriminatory bans in place in British colonies at the time meant that Black men could only go to school to be a lawyer or a doctor, “where they could make a living without government support”.
“I did not want to be a lawyer or a doctor. I wanted to be an engineer, but this seemed pointless since neither the government nor the white firms would employ a Black engineer,” he explained in his biography, published by Nobel Lectures.
Despite not knowing what economics was at the beginning of his education, Lewis eventually earned a doctorate in industrial economics, a degree that helped him obtain his first teaching position and made him the first Black faculty member at LSE.
By 33, Lewis had become a full professor at the University of Manchester.
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Oh So he’s the guy on the hundred dollar ec bill that explains it
He was born to Antiguan parents, and is one of the great West Indians of the 20th century.
Mr Byam I cannot say that I disagree with your comment. Very true, however, I would also include the names of Marcus Garvey and CLR James to be at the top of the list of great West Indian minds.
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