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Iris de Freitas Brazao

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First female Barrister-at-Law (Lawyer) in the Commonwealth Caribbean (1896 - 1989)
Iris de Freitas Brazao
Postcard from Aberystwyth University
Born29 October 1896
Barbados
Died1989
Georgetown, Guyana
EducationAberystwyth University

University of Oxford

Honourable Society of the Inner Temple
OccupationBarrister-at-Law
Known forFirst Female Barrister in the Commonwealth Caribbean
SpouseAlfred Brazao

Iris de Freitas Brazao (1896 – 1989) was the first female Barrister-at-Law (Lawyer) in the Commonwealth Caribbean.

Life

Iris de Freitas Brazao was born in Barbados and spent the majority of her life in Guyana (then British Guiana). Her father was M. G. de Freitas, a merchant. After a short period studying at University of Toronto in Canada, she enrolled at Aberystwyth University giving her address as Demerara, British Guiana (now Guyana). She studied botany, Latin and modern languages, law and jurisprudence and took an active part in student life. She graduated with a BA in 1922, and received her LL.B in 1927.

Iris went on to study at the University of Oxford from 1923 and the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple in England.

In 1929 she was admitted to the Bar as the first woman Barrister-at-Law in the Commonwealth Caribbean. She was also the first female prosecutor of a murder trial there.

In 1937 she married Alfred Brazao who was also a Barrister-a-Law. They lived at Georgetown in British Guiana where she continued to work as a Barrister-at-Law.

Iris passed away in 1989 in Georgetown, Guyana. In 2021, the Caribbean Court of Justice honoured Iris as one of the Pioneering Caribbean Women Jurists and in 2023, Dr. Joanne Collins-Gonsalves published the first full length book on her titled: Iris de Freitas Brazao, Legal Luminary and Trailblazer: Caribbean, Canada, Wales, England 1896-1989.

Legacy

In 2016, staff at her alma mater came across a postcard that featured her. Investigations revealed that she was a graduate of Aberystwyth University. In 2016 on International Women's Day her university named a room in the university's Hugh Owen Library in her honour.

In 2018, to celebrate Black History Month in the United Kingdom, she was included in a list of 100 "Brilliant, Black and Welsh" people.

See also

References

  1. Collins-Gonsalves, Joanne (2023-12-13). Iris de Freitas Brazao, Legal Luminary and Trailblazer: Caribbean, Canada, Wales, England 1896-1989. Atlantic Academic Publishing Inc. ISBN 978-1-7380837-0-1.
  2. "New Publication - Iris de Freitas Brazao, Legal Luminary and Trailblazer: Caribbean, Canada, Wales, England 1896-1989 by Dr. Joanne Collins-Gonsalves". Historical Research International Inc. February 29, 2024.
  3. Collins-Gonsalves, Joanne (December 13, 2023). Iris de Freitas Brazao, Legal Luminary and Trailblazer: Caribbean, Canada, Wales, England 1896-1989. ISBN 978-1738083701.
  4. Brereton, Bridget (April 11, 2024). "A Trailblazing Caribbean Woman". Trinidad and Tobago Express.
  5. de Silva, Mark (June 28, 2024). "The Story of Iris de Freitas Brazao: The First Female Lawyer in the Commonwealth Caribbean - A look at a Biography of an Outstanding Caribbean Professional with Vincentian Connection". The News (St. Vincent). p. 5.
  6. "DE FREITAS BRAZAO, IRIS (1896 - 1989), lawyer | Dictionary of Welsh Biography". biography.wales. Retrieved 2024-09-03.
  7. ^ "Aberystwyth University honours first female lawyer in the Caribbean". Aberystwyth University. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  8. Collins-Gonsalves, Joanne (2023). Iris de Freitas Brazao, Legal Luminary and Trailblazer: Caribbean, Canada, Wales, England 1896-1989. Edmonton, Canada: Atlantic Academic Publishing Inc. pp. 41–54. ISBN 978-1-7380837-0-1.
  9. "Iris de Freitas Brazao". Narberth Museum. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  10. Winston Anderson and M. Ragnauth-Lee (eds.) (2021). Pioneering Caribbean Women Jurists. Port of Spain: Caribbean Court of Law, Academy of Law. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  11. "Former Chancellor Désirée Bernard, 2 other Guyanese Recognised as Pioneering C'bean Women Jurists". Guyana Times. October 18, 2021.
  12. "Book Launch: Iris de Freitas Brazao Legal Luminary and Trailblazer: Caribbean, Canada, Wales, England 1896-1989 by Dr. Joanne Collins-Gonsalves". Historical Research International Inc. March 12, 2024.
  13. Collins-Gonsalves, Joanne (2023-12-13). Iris de Freitas Brazao, Legal Luminary and Trailblazer: Caribbean, Canada, Wales, England 1896-1989. Atlantic Academic Publishing Inc. ISBN 978-1-7380837-0-1.
  14. "Academics Laud New Book on Iris de Freitas Brazao at Book Launch". Historical Research International Inc. July 4, 2024.
  15. Wightwick, Abbie (28 September 2018). "Brilliant, Black and Welsh: A celebration of 100 African Caribbean and African Welsh people". WalesOnline. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
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