The University of Guyana notes with deepest sadness the passing of our dearest former lecturer, author, researcher, benefactor, and recipient of an Honourary Degree of Doctor of Letters, Ameena Gafoor.
To paraphrase the words written and read by the University’s Official Master Orator, Al Creighton, at the Conferral Ceremony in 2022, Ameena was “a symbol of endurance and enlightenment; a flame providing light, steadfast and persevering, against the persistent force of a prevailing wind.” Her life, well lived, provides a model of “illumination and hopeful victory over darkness in times of adversity.”
The University, even in this moment, celebrates an individual who triumphed over humble and difficult beginnings—a mother, wife, literary critic, researcher, editor, anthologist, cultural activist, creative writer, philanthropist, and social worker. Mrs Gafoor was the founder and editor of the literary academic publication The Arts Journal, the founder and director of The Arts Forum with a special interest in the visual arts and Indian art.
She was a member of the Jury for the Guyana Prize for Literature and has four literary publications, including an autobiography and the forthcoming Bibliography of Guyanese Writers, which she was making final arrangements for at the time of her passing. She was a feminist critic and a Muslim woman who wrote in the context of Islamic womanhood in Guyana, which is rare and can only otherwise be found in the work of a handful of other Guyanese women.
Mrs Gafoor established the Ameena Gafoor Institute, a cultural, literary, intellectual, artistic, and research centre set up in her name, with headquarters in England, managed by the Institute’s Director, Prof. David Dabydeen. The Ameena Gafoor Institute advances research and scholarship in a number of areas, including the history, wide-ranging studies, and literature of Indian Indentureship.
Among other things, Mrs Gafoor was the CEO of the Gafoor’s Foundation, and, along with her husband, hardware mogul Dr Sattaur Gafoor, recently gifted the University of Guyana its Multi-purpose Centre, which is in the final stages of completion. The University records its deep appreciation for her life and contributions and extends its deepest condolences on behalf of Chancellor Prof. Edward Greene, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Paloma Mohamed Martin, Deputy Vice-Chancellors, Senior Management Team, Faculty, staff, and students, in particular from the Faculty of Education and Humanities (FEH), with which she was closely associated. Deepest sympathy to her husband, children, and loved ones. May her soul rest in absolute peace.
Those wishing to review the video of the conferral of her Honorary Doctorate in 2022 may do so by clicking here.
