In the West Indiana section of the Alma Jordan Library, there is a desk belonging to the late Professor Brinsley Samaroo. Even after he retired from The UWI in 2005, Prof Samaroo could be found at this desk on weekdays hunched over books and papers; taking notes in pencil; greeting and meeting students and colleagues alike. It was a space he occupied up to the time he became ill and eventually passed on July 9.
Occupying public space was characteristic of Prof Samaroo. Public historian was one of his many titles. He was also an author, politician, husband and father. Some may even call him an activist. A pioneering researcher on the history of the Indian diaspora, Prof Samaroo was by no means limited in his scope. As his longtime colleague and friend, Professor Bridget Brereton says, “In no way could Brinsley be described as a narrowly ethnic historian.” In addition to his scholarship on the Indian diaspora, Prof Samaroo’s research interests included class and labour struggles, the general history of T&T and the life of Dr Eric Williams.
Among Prof Samaroo’s many books and publications is the groundbreaking anthology he co-edited, India in the Caribbean and the recent, Adrian Cola Rienzi: Life and times of an Indo-Caribbean progressive, which Prof Brereton regards as a remarkable text. “I think that is his most notable book, first of all, because he was researching this book for a long time. It’s very well researched, and it tells the story of somebody who is not well known to people in T&T. Nearly everybody has heard of [Uriah] Butler, fewer people have heard of Rienzi. He [Rienzi] was very important, because for a short, but crucial period of time between 1937-1944, this one man, who was of Indian origin, managed to lead the two most important unions in the country — the Oilfield Workers Trade Union, where the members were nearly all Afro-Trini, and the Sugar Workers Union, where the members were mostly Indo-Trini. So he really was a very important person, and for Brinsley, he symbolised the possibility of bridging the ethnic divide and pursuing what could be described as class-based or labour politics.”
Uniting the people of T&T was a cause dear to Prof Samaroo’s heart. Coming from the rural village of Ecclesville, Rio Claro, Prof Samaroo grew up on the cocoa estate owned and managed by his father. Although raised Presbyterian, he harboured a keen interest in various aspects of Indian culture such as Islam, Hinduism and the Hindi language. After completing primary school, Prof Samaroo was awarded an Exhibition Scholarship which afforded him the opportunity to attend Naparima College, San Fernando. It was at Naparima College that he met lifelong colleagues and friends such as Professor Kenneth Ramchand and Dr Kusha Haraksingh.
Following this, Prof Samaroo went on to receive further scholarships allowing him to complete his BA and MA at Delhi University, New Delhi, India. Studying in India was an eye-opening experience for Prof Samaroo, helping him to better understand his ancestry and forge connections within the diaspora. After obtaining a PhD in History from the University of London, Prof Samaroo returned to The UWI St Augustine where he became a lecturer in the Department of History in 1968. It was a tumultuous period in T&T’s history as the Black Power Movement was at its peak. Determined to continue his mission to unite people, however, Prof Samaroo joined the movement giving public lectures on both African and Indian history as well as working to quell negative perceptions of the movement among the Indo-Trinidadian community.
Participating in the Black Power Movement was indicative of the public presence Prof Samaroo would maintain in his over 40-year career. Yet, still his work on the Indian diaspora remained paramount. Prof Bereton noted that in the 1970s, not much quality research existed on the Indian diaspora. “As a very young man he was exposed to India through his studies at Delhi University and he went back there often to lecture, to attend conferences and so on. So there’s a network of international researchers which has grown bigger and bigger, and Brinsley helped to create that. His hugely important contribution to the academic study of the Indian diaspora in the Caribbean was not in one book. It was through a series of articles in journals, co-edited books and networking. By the time he died, he was the centre of that network; many, many scholars are working hard on the aspects of history of the indentured Indian diaspora and he’ll always be remembered for that contribution. That work will continue.”
Speaking with UWI Today, Dr Haraksingh, who joined the History Department shortly after Prof Samaroo in 1973, fondly remembered him as a colleague who was “affable, helpful and a great raconteur”. He also credits Prof Samaroo with having a major impact on the way history is taught in T&T. “In history, he taught for many years a compulsory course on Foundations of New World History. This meant that thousands of students passed through his hands. In his Foundations course, he would tell the students how the Conquistadors, on landing in the New World, first fell upon their knees, then upon the Aborigines. In the early days many of the students were more mature than nowadays; many were graduates from teacher training colleges who were taking the opportunity to acquire university credentials. These would return to classrooms across the country, carrying with them Professor Samaroo’s influence.”
Another aspect of Prof Samaroo’s public life was his political career. From 1981 - 1986, he served as an opposition senator and from 1987 - 1991, a government minister. Prof Brereton shared that despite entering the political arena, Prof Samaroo retained a great deal of humility. “There were no airs or graces about Brinsley, no affectation. His lifestyle was simple and he was humble. When he decided to leave Parliament in 1991, he didn’t assume he would just walk back into the History Department. No. There had to be a vacancy, he had to apply, and he accepted an appointment at the lecturer level—though he’d been a senior lecturer when he left in 1986. That was the man.”
Other notable works by Prof Samaroo include The Dictionary of Caribbean Biography: Trinidad and Tobago, The Price of Conscience: Howard Nankivell and Labour Unrest in the British Caribbean, The Art of Garnett Ifill: Glimpses of the Sugar Industry, The Mike Men of Trinidad and Tobago and The Blackest Thing in Slavery was not the Black Man: The Last Testament of Eric Williams. He also recently completed a book, commissioned by San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello on the history of San Fernando which will be published posthumously.
