Viola Burnham

Viola Burnham OR
Vice President of Guyana
In office August 1985 – October 1991 Serving with Hamilton Green, Mohamed Shahabuddeen and Ranji Chandisingh
President	Desmond Hoyte
First Lady of Guyana
In role 6 October 1980 – 6 August 1985
President	Forbes Burnham
Preceded by	Doreen Chung
Succeeded by	Joyce Hoyte
Spouse of the Prime Minister of Guyana
In role 1967 – 6 October 1980
Prime Minister	Forbes Burnham
Preceded by	Bernice Lataste
Succeeded by	Ruth Reid
Personal details
Born	Viola Victorine Harper 26 November 1930 New Amsterdam, Berbice, British Guiana
Died	10 October 2003(2003-10-10) (aged 72)
Nationality	Guyanese
Spouse	Forbes Burnham (m. 1967)
Children	3 (one adopted)
Parents	James Nathaniel Harper (father) Mary Chin (mother)
Alma mater	University of Leicester; University of Chicago

Viola Victorine Burnham OR (née Harper; 26 November 1930 – 10 October 2003) was a Guyanese politician from People's National Congress (PNC), and wife and widow of Forbes Burnham.

Early life

Burnham was born in New Amsterdam, Berbice, the youngest of eight children of schoolmaster James Nathaniel Harper and his wife Mary (née Chin). After her father died the family moved to Georgetown, where she attended Bishops’ High School on scholarship. After a brief job at The Argosy, she became a teacher, which led her to obtain a scholarship for university abroad. She earned a B.A. in Latin at University of Leicester, then her M.A. in Education at University of Chicago. She returned to Guyana teach Latin at Bishops High.

Political sphere

In 1967, she married then-Prime minister Forbes Burnham (his second marriage) and they had two daughters. In 1967, she accepted the position of Vice-Chairperson of the Women's Auxiliary of the PNC, where she was involved in reorganization and assuming more responsibility for women's issues. In 1976, she was elected as Chairperson of what by this time had become the Women's Revolutionary Socialist Movement (WRSM). Through the WRSM, Burnham was responsible for projects related to women's employment and education in Guyana as well as the greater Caribbean region. She was a founding member and Vice-President of the Caribbean Woman's Association. She also led the Guyanese delegation for the first three United Nations Conferences on Women. She also served as a chair on the Guyana National Commission for the Year of the Child.

After the death of Forbes Burnham, she joined the cabinet of Desmond Hoyte as Vice President and deputy prime minister responsible for education, social development and culture in August 1985. She was elected to Parliament in 1985. She eventually stepped down from the parliament and from the cabinet in October 1991.

Honours

In 1984, she received the Order of Roraima (OR).