{"id":"forbes-burnham","type":"person","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/forbes-burnham","language":"en","name":"Forbes Burnham","name_en":"Forbes Burnham","name_ne":null,"description":"Guyanese politician (1923-1985)","headline":"Guyanese politician (1923-1985)","also_known_as":[],"summary":"Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham  (20 February 1923 – 6 August 1985) was a Guyanese politician and the leader of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana from 1964 until his death in 1985. He served as Premier of British Guiana from 1964 to 1966, Prime Minister of Guyana from 1964 to 1980 and then as the first executive president of Guyana (2nd president overall) from 1980 to 1985. He is often regarded as a strongman dictator who embraced his own version of socialism and ethnocentrism.","summary_more":["Educated as a lawyer, Burnham was instrumental in the foundation of two political parties (the People's National Congress and the People's Progressive Party) that would come to dominate the politics of Guyana. During his time as head of government, Guyana moved from being a British colony to being a republic with no constitutional ties to the United Kingdom. His premiership was characterized by the nationalisation of foreign-owned private industries, membership of the Non-Aligned Movement and authoritarian domestic policy. Despite being widely regarded as having a significant role in the political, social, and economic development of Guyana, his presidency was marred by accusations of Afrocentrism, state-sanctioned violence, corruption, and electoral fraud."],"facts":[{"key":"born","label":"Born","values":[{"text":"20 February 1923","date":"1923-02-20"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q718256#P569"}},{"key":"birthplace","label":"Place of birth","values":[{"text":"Georgetown","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q10717"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q718256#P19"}},{"key":"died","label":"Died","values":[{"text":"6 August 1985","date":"1985-08-06"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q718256#P570"}},{"key":"deathplace","label":"Place of death","values":[{"text":"Georgetown","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q10717"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q718256#P20"}},{"key":"citizenship","label":"Citizenship","values":[{"text":"Guyana","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q734"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q718256#P27"}},{"key":"occupation","label":"Occupation","values":[{"text":"politician","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q82955"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q718256#P106"}},{"key":"party","label":"Political party","values":[{"text":"People's National Congress (1958–1985)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q647210","start":"1958","end":"1985"},{"text":"People's Progressive Party (1950–1958)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1972521","start":"1950","end":"1958"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q718256#P102"}},{"key":"education","label":"Education","values":[{"text":"London School of Economics and Political Science","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q174570"},{"text":"Queen's College, Guyana","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7269949"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q718256#P69"}},{"key":"positions","label":"Positions held","values":[{"text":"President of Guyana (6 October 1980 – 6 August 1985)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q685925","start":"1980-10-06","end":"1985-08-06"},{"text":"Prime Minister of Guyana (26 May 1966 – 6 October 1980)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q376006","start":"1966-05-26","end":"1980-10-06"},{"text":"premier (14 December 1964 – 26 May 1966)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q959664","start":"1964-12-14","end":"1966-05-26"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q718256#P39"}},{"key":"awards","label":"Awards","values":[{"text":"Order of José Martí","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1991972"},{"text":"Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q727815"},{"text":"honorary citizen of Zagreb","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q61962986","date":"1987"},{"text":"Order of Stara Planina","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2522577"},{"text":"Order of the Southern Cross","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q93713"},{"text":"Order of the National Flag","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q742789"},{"text":"Order of the Yugoslav Star","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q747248"},{"text":"Order of the Nile","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1783222"},{"text":"Order of the White Rose of Finland","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q94437"}],"source":{"label":"Wikidata","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q718256#P166"}}],"office":null,"sections":[],"cited":[],"cited_from":null,"videos":[],"last_reviewed":null,"organizations":[],"same_as":["https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbes_Burnham","https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q718256"],"faq":[{"q":"When was Forbes Burnham born?","a":"Forbes Burnham was born on 20 February 1923 in Georgetown."},{"q":"What positions has Forbes Burnham held?","a":"Positions held by Forbes Burnham include: President of Guyana (1980–1985); Prime Minister of Guyana (1966–1980); premier (1964–1966)."},{"q":"Where did Forbes Burnham study?","a":"Forbes Burnham was educated at London School of Economics and Political Science, Queen's College, Guyana."}],"related":[{"name":"Daniel Suidani","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/daniel-suidani"},{"name":"Alan Sugar","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/alan-sugar"},{"name":"Aleksandr Skorobogatko","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/aleksandr-skorobogatko"},{"name":"Alinaghi Khamoushi","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/alinaghi-khamoushi"},{"name":"Andrej Babiš","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/andrej-babis"},{"name":"Anil Ambani","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/anil-ambani"},{"name":"Anutin Charnvirakul","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/anutin-charnvirakul"},{"name":"Aziz Akhannouch","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/aziz-akhannouch"},{"name":"Bhumibol Adulyadej","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/bhumibol-adulyadej"},{"name":"Bill Haslam","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/bill-haslam"},{"name":"Boris Titov","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/boris-titov"},{"name":"Cindy Monica Salsabila Setiawan","url":"https://diginpl.com/people/cindy-monica-salsabila-setiawan"}],"places_in":[],"nearby":[],"image":{"url":"https://diginpl.com/kb-img/forbes-burnham-faea6b8dee.jpg","width":397,"height":518,"license":"CC0","credit":"Fotograaf Onbekend / Anefo","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Forbes_Burnham_(1966).jpg"},"sources":[{"label":"Wikipedia (English): Forbes Burnham","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbes_Burnham","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"},{"label":"Wikidata item Q718256","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q718256","license":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},{"label":"Image: Forbes Burnham (1966).jpg by Fotograaf Onbekend / Anefo (CC0)","url":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Forbes_Burnham_(1966).jpg","license":null}],"license":{"text":"CC BY-SA 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","facts":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"},"attribution":"Text from the Wikipedia article Forbes Burnham, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Forbes Burnham (1966).jpg — Fotograaf Onbekend / Anefo, CC0.","cite":"\"Forbes Burnham\". DigiNepal. Last updated 1 November 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/forbes-burnham. Retrieved 14 November 2026.","date_modified":"2026-11-01T06:59:19Z","facts_checked":"2026-11-14","alternates":{"html":"https://diginpl.com/people/forbes-burnham","en":"https://diginpl.com/people/forbes-burnham","ne":"https://diginpl.com/people/forbes-burnham?lang=ne"}}