Forbes Burnham

Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham OE
Burnham in 1966.
2nd President of Guyana
In office 6 October 1980 – 6 August 1985
Prime Minister	Ptolemy Reid
Preceded by	Arthur Chung
Succeeded by	Hugh Desmond Hoyte
1st Prime Minister of Guyana (British Guiana until 1966)
In office 14 December 1964 – 6 October 1980
Monarch	Elizabeth II
President	Edward Victor Luckhoo Arthur Chung
Preceded by	Cheddi Jagan
Succeeded by	Ptolemy Reid
Personal details
Born	(1923-02-20)20 February 1923 Kitty, Georgetown, East Coast Demerara, British Guiana, British Empire
Died	6 August 1985(1985-08-06) (aged 62) Georgetown, East Coast Demerara, Guyana
Political party	PPP (1950-1958) PNC (1958-1985)
Spouse(s)	Bernice Lataste Viola Burnham
Children	Roxane Annabelle Francesca Melanie Ulele Kamana
Alma mater	London School of Economics

Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham (20 February 1923–6 August 1985) was a Guyanese political leader and leader of Guyana from 1964 until his death, as the 1st Prime Minister from 1964 to 1980 and as 2nd President from 1980 to 1985. He is widely regarded as a strongman who fought for nationalism and encouraged Guyanese to manufacture and export more local products.

Burnham, an Afro-Guyanese man, was born in Kitty, a suburb of Georgetown, East Demerara in Guyana, as one of three children. He attended the prestigious and the colony's elite Queen's College. In 1942, he won the Guiana Scholarship as the colony's top student. Burnham received a law degree from the London School of Economics in 1948. Burnham met many African and Caribbean students – including Abubakar Tafawa Balewa of Nigeria, Seretse Khama of Botswana and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana as well as Michael Manley of Jamaica and Errol Barrow of Barbados - during his studies in London. He was married to Viola Burnham, who was also involved in politics. He has three children, Roxane, Annabelle, and Francesca from his first marriage to Bernice Lataste. His second marriage to Viola produced two daughters, Melanie and Ulele and later they adopted a son, Kamana.

Burnham was one of the founding leaders of the People's Progressive Party (PPP), which was launched on January 1, 1950. The Indo-Guyanese labor leader Cheddi Jagan became Leader of the PPP and Burnham became its Chairman. In 1952, Burnham became the president of the party's affiliated trade union, the British Guiana Labour Union. In 1953, the PPP won 18 of 24 seats in the first election by Universal Adult Suffrage/Franchise permitted by the British colonial government. (There were previous elections based on a limited suffrage/franchise according to property, income and literacy qualifications). In the short-lived PPP government that followed, Burnham served as Minister of Education.