The Founding Father of the Mauritian State,
The Architect of Mauritian Independence,
& A Man of the People
(I)
Satyendra Peerthum,
Historian, Writer, & Lecturer
– Mayor of Port Louis (1958-1959)
– Chief Minister & Minister of Finance (1961-1965)
– Premier of Mauritius (1965-1968)
– Prime Minister of Mauritius (1968-1982)
– Governor-General of Mauritius (1983-1985)
“All my life I have been guided by three imperatives, the human imperative, the territorial imperative and the socialist imperative. The human imperative was born of the misery, the exploitation and the inhuman conditions of living I have seen around me in my early childhood. To improve the lot of the common man, give back his dignity, teach him to lift up his head and stare his problems in the face, motivate him to fight for his rights, educate him into believing that all men really belong to one race – the human race – became the driving force of my political action….”
SSR’s Message to the Nation on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the country’s accession to independence, 12 March 1978
On Thursday, 18th September 2025, the Mauritian nation and state will be commemorating the 125th birth anniversary of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam GCMG LRCP MRCS (18 September 1900 – 15 December 1985). As part of the commemorations, a detailed exhibition on the life and legacy of SSR will be unveiled by the Hon. Dr. Navin Ramgoolam, the current Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Republic of Mauritius and his son, at the Port Louis Municipality, which was conceptualised and proposed by Mr. Satyendra Peerthum, Historian at the Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund/Indenture Labour Route, writer, & Board Director at the Intercontinental Slavery Museum for the Ministry of Arts and Culture.
SSR is often referred affectionely to Mauritians as “Chacha Ramgoolam”, “SSR”, or simply as “Kewal”, was a Mauritian physician, politician, statesman, and writer. He served as the island’s only chief minister, only premier, first prime minister, the fifth governor-general, and mayor of the country’s capital city. Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam was the son of Immigrant Ramgoolam also known as Moheeth Ramgoolam, an Indian indentured labourer from Bihar, India, who arrived in Mauritius at the Aapravasi Ghat World Heritage Site then known as the Immigration Depot in 1871.
SSR was born at Belle Rive Sugar Estate, known today as Kewal Nagar, on 18 September 1900. Young Kewal grew up in poverty, he lost his mother at the age the age of 5, his father at the age of 7, and his left eye at the age of 12. These were traumatic events during his childhood which marked him for the rest of his life. At the same time, it guided his humanist philosophy of fighting for the downtrodden, the poor, and improving the lives of all Mauritians.
SSR attended primary school at Bel Air and obtained his secondary education at Royal College, Curepipe. In 1921, he went to England to study medicine at the University College, London. Fourteen years later, in 1935, Ramgoolam became a qualified physician and a member of the Royal College of Physicians London. He returned to Mauritius and joined politics. Within months of his arrival, the young doctor set up his practice at 87, Desforges Street and became engaged in the Indian Centenary Committee marking 100 years of the arrival of the Indian indentured workers in December 1935. Between 1936 and 1940, Dr. Ramgoolam regularly contributed articles in the local press like the Arya Vir and Le Radical.
In 1940, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam’s career as a public figure began in earnest. Some of his important public and personal milestones are:
- In 1940, he was elected Councillor to the Municipality of Port Louis and founded the daily newspaper Advance.
- During the same year, he was appointed as a nominee to the Council of Government by Governor Sir Bede Clifford.
- During the following year, he got married to Sushil Ramjoorawon in 1941. Out of this marriage a son, Navinchandra (our current Prime Minister) and a daughter, Soonita Kumari, were born. In 1947, he officially joined the Mauritius Labour Party.
4.Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam became leader of the Labour Party in 1956 after the death of Guy Rozemont, the 3rd president of the party.
- He was elected to the Executive Council in 1948
- Between 1951 and 1956, he served as Liaison Officer for the Department of Education for the British Governor.
7.In 1956, Dr. Ramgoolam became the Deputy Mayor of Port Louis in 1956 then Mayor in 1958.
8.In 1961, he became Chief Minister and Minister of Finance.
9.In 1965, Dr. S.Ramgoolam became Premier and he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. It was an official state recognition of his 30 years of unwavering and determined public service to the Mauritian nation.
10.Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam was leader of the Independence Party as he led the country to independence in March 1968 and remained in post until June 1982.
11.He became the first Prime Minister of Mauritius and secured Mauritian membership in the United Nations (UN) and in the Organization of African States (OAU).
12.In 1976, SSR became the chairman of the Organisation of African Unity.
13.In December 1983, he became Governor General and Commander in Chief of Mauritius as the representative of Queen Elizabeth II.
(End of Part 1)
