Michel Maxwell Philip
Michel Maxwell Philip (12 October 1829 – 30 June 1888) was a Trinidadian novelist, lawyer, and civil servant.[1]
Biography
Philip was born at the Cooper Grange Estate, South Naparima, in Trinidad.[2] He was "apparently" the illegitimate son of a white planter and mixed-race woman from the Philip family.[3]
After graduating from the small school at San Fernando, he went on at the age of 14 to St Mary's Catholic College in Scotland, where he received a classical education. After returning to Trinidad in 1849, he studied law for two years, then returned to England. In 1854, he was called to the bar. In the same year, he published his novel Emmanuel Appadocca, or, Blighted Life: A Tale of the Boucaneers,[2] which is the first Trinidadian novel.[4] Emmanuel Appadocca is about the illegitimate son of a rich father who owns his enslaved African mother. The protagonist avenges himself and his mother by showing that he is more ethical and more intelligent than his affluent father.[5] C. L. R. James wrote in a 1931 article in The Beacon magazine that Philip was "the most brilliant native of his time and within memory" and that his book "shows the powerful effect with which the misfortune of his birth weighed upon his mind".[6]
In 1867, following an election, Philip became the Mayor of Port of Spain, a position that had previously been held by only whites. Bridget Brereton wrote in her 2002 book Race Relations in Colonial Trinidad 1870–1900 that "perhaps this marks the emergence of the coloured man as a political force in Trinidad".[3]
Death and legacy
Philip's health began to weaken in 1887. He died at
References
- Notes
- ^ Sunday Express. Archived from the originalon 2011-06-16. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
- ^ a b Philip, Cudjoe & Cain 1997, pp. 7–8.
- ^ a b c Bereton 2002, p. 87.
- ^ James & Laughlin 2003, p. xxvi.
- ^ Edmonson 1999, p. 70.
- ^ Nielsen 1997, p. xxxii.
- ^ Philip, Cudjoe & Cain 1997, p. 9
- Bibliography
- ISBN 0-521-52313-3.
- Edmonson, Belinda (1999). Caribbean Romances: The Politics of Regional Representation. Charlottesville: ISBN 0-8139-1822-7.
- James, Cyril Lionel Robert; Laughlin, Nicholas (2003). Letters from London: Seven Essays by C.L.R. James. Oxford: Signal Books. ISBN 1-902669-60-6.
- ISBN 0-87805-973-3.
- Philip, Maxwell; Cudjoe, Selwyn Reginald; Cain, William E. (1997). Emmanuel Appadocca, or, Blighted Life: A Tale of the Boucaneers. Amherst, Massachusetts: ISBN 1-55849-076-0.
External links
- Brief Introduction to the Biography of Michel Maxwell Philip from website by Leah Rosenberg, Professor of Caribbean Literature