EDITOR’S NOTE: On June 24, Dr Lancelot Cowie, Honorary Professor and renowned educator and exponent of the Spanish language, and Latin American art and culture, passed away. His contribution to Caribbean society and to The UWI is beyond measure. UWI TODAY is pleased to share this remembrance to Dr Cowie.
Honorary Professor Dr Lancelot Cowie was a distinguished son of Caribbean soil. Born in Tobago on 3rd October 1947, he began his trajectory with The UWI at the Mona Campus, where he earned his Bachelor's degree with Honours in Spanish (Special) in 1969, and a PhD in 1976 in Spanish/Latin American Studies, having studied in Jamaica and at the Universidad Autónoma de México and El Colegio de México. After joining UWI St Augustine in 1981, he served as a lecturer and senior lecturer in Spanish for nearly 30 years in the Departments of Language and Linguistics, Liberal Arts, and Modern Languages and Linguistics.
Dr Cowie taught all levels of Spanish language, several literature courses on Colombian, Mexican and Argentine literature and film, as well as the history of the Spanish language. He developed several courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, coordinated the Spanish programme, coordinated and established the Portuguese language programme, and developed the BA in Latin American Studies with colleagues from History, Latin American Politics, and Economics.
He supervised numerous postgraduate MA, MPhil and PhD students, sometimes jointly with colleagues from Latin America, Europe and the US. He created and coordinated exchange programmes with universities and business schools from various Latin American countries including Universidad Simón Bolívar in Venezuela, the INCAE Business School in Costa Rica, and Universidad Javeriana and Universidad Nacional de Colombia, both in Colombia.
The Centre for Language Learning was his vision, and he assumed responsibility for getting the plans drawn up and obtaining the financing. He was the founder and Director of the Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean (CENLAC) at the St Augustine Campus from 2003 until 2016. As Honorary Professor, he returned to the CENLAC office, housed at the Institute of International Relations, where he reinstituted the monthly Foro latinoamericano, an intellectual space for Hispanic diplomats, scholars, students, and the wider public.
He was President of the Sociedad Latinoamericana de Estudios sobre América Latina y el Caribe from 2002 to 2004, and hosted their conference in 2003 at UWI St Augustine. In 2013, he co-founded the Asociación de Latinoamericanistas with several UWI colleagues, including Dr Nina Bruni, Ken Crichlow, Prof Gary García, and Dr Anne-Marie Pouchet, as well as past students and external stakeholders.
Among his publications are numerous scholarly articles, book chapters, anthologies and books on Latin American and Caribbean literature, politics and society. He was a keynote speaker and presenter at numerous international conferences on social, cultural, political, literary and other creative topics in many countries including Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, England, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Poland, Russia, and the US.
All of this is just the tip of Dr Cowie’s professional iceberg. He was a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Alcalá de Henares, Spain, El Colegio de México, the UNAM and the University of Warsaw, Poland.
Dr Cowie’s record of public and professional service is outstanding. He was an invited member of the Languages Steering Group which developed special language programmes at City University, London, and a Consultant and Coordinator at the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean’s Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee. He served as a Ministry of National Security Representative on the Police Promotion Advisory Board, and Research Officer for the Bruce Committee for Restructuring of Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. He was on the Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Academic Affairs of COSTAATT and a Member of the Government Language Planning Sub-Committee-Bilingual Initiative. He was a member of several editorial boards, a judge for several book prizes and awards, and a reviewer of many scholarly books and articles.
He served as the International Observer from the Caribbean for the Mexican Federal Electoral Process in July 2006, and the interpreter for Queen Sofia of Spain during her visit to the UWI St Augustine campus in 2009. He was named Honorary Professor by the Universidad del Caribe in Santo Domingo, and awarded a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Foundation for outstanding community service. In 2009, he was commissioned a Kentucky Colonel by Governor Beshear of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in recognition of his outstanding contributions in the field of Latin American Studies.
He served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in Havana, Cuba from 2016 to 2021 with distinction, and then returned to his beloved home of Tobago. There, he received many job offers from universities in Europe, Brazil and Mexico. He returned to his second home, The UWI, in 2023, where he served until his untimely passing on 24 June 2024.
As a colleague, Dr Cowie was a joy to work with. He was always collaborative and supportive and ready to advise students on postgraduate study and career options in Latin America.
His professional legacy is a robust academic career which continues to bear fruit, and a strengthening of ties and dialogues between the Caribbean, Latin America and the whole Hispanic world. He was also a kind and generous mentor and colleague.
Dr Lancelot Cowie was larger than life and much larger than death. Faced with his end, he was a true soldier, acknowledging those who came to see him even until his last moments. He urged us on even while he was slipping away. He was a strong, visionary, intelligent, selfless man who always brought out the best in himself and others. Rest in peace, Dr Cowie. He will be sorely missed.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Mexican philosopher Leopoldo Zea referred to Dr Lancelot Cowie as "Lancelot del Caribe" - Lancelot of the Caribbean. Mexican Ambassador, Víctor Hugo Morales Meléndez alluded to Zea’s remark at the Memorial Service held in Dr Cowie’s honour on July 22 at the Centre for Language learning at UWI St Augustine.
