Elmira Minita Gordon
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Dame Elmira Minita Gordon GCMG GCVO JP |
|
|---|---|
| Governor General of Belize | |
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In office 21 September 1981 – 17 November 1993 |
|
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister |
George Cadle Price Manuel Esquivel George Cadle Price Manuel Esquivel |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Colville Young |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
30 December 1930 Belize City, British Honduras (now Belize) |
Dame Elmira Minita Gordon GCMG GCVO JP (born 30 December 1930) was the first Governor General of Belize from its independence in 1981-93. Gordon is to date the only woman to have served as Governor General of Belize. She was also the first trained Belizean psychologist having received both a Masters and Doctorate Degree in psychology.
Elmira Minita Gordon was born 30 December 1930 in Belize City, British Honduras. She grew up in Belize City and attended St. John's Girls' School and then St. Mary's Primary. She continued her education at St. George's Teacher's College and furthered her studies through a correspondence course from the College of Preceptors, Oxford, England. She began teaching as an Anglican school teacher and missionary throughout Belize between 1946 and 1958. From 1959 to 1969 Dame Minita was a lecturer at the Belize Teacher's Training College, after which she became a Government Education Officer, serving from 1969 to 1981.
Gordon completed her postgraduate education at the University of Nottingham and University of Birmingham in England and the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. Between 1977 and 1980, Gordon was in Canada where she served on the Educational Psychology Programme Planning Committee and was a member of the Toronto Leather Craft Club. She earned her master's degree in Educational Psychology and then a Doctorate in Applied Psychology from the University of Toronto, Canada, becoming the first trained Belizean psychologist.
She returned from her studies in 1980 and in 1981 was appointed Governor General of Belize. She succeeded James P. I. Hennessy, last Governor General of British Honduras, and became the first Governor General of Belize upon Belizean's gaining their Independence.
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