Padmore, George, 1902-1959

George Padmore was one of a number of talented West Indians who helped shape African events in the 20th century, and he played a crucial role in developing the Fifth, and most important, Pan African Congress, intended to address the issues facing Africa due to European colonization of much of the continent. Padmore was also instrumental in organizing black labor movements from the 1930s onwards.

George Padmore was born in Arouca, Trinidad in 1903 and died in London on September 24, 1959 after being flown there for medical care from Accra, Ghana where he lived. Padmore received his early education in Trinidad and worked there for 2 years as a journalist at the Trinidad Guardian newspaper. He later became a student at Fisk University in Tennessee, where he earned a B.A. He continued his studies at Howard University, and earned a law degree. It was while attending Howard that he became associated with the Communist Party.

Padmore held many positions in the Communist Party in Russia and Germany. While holding these positions he travelled throughout Europe and Africa. In 1934 Padmore was removed from his position as editor of "The Negro Worker", (a publication of the Communist Party published in Germany) by the Hitler regime, imprisoned for 6 months, then deported to Great Britain. It was subsequent to this that he severed his ties with the Communist Party. In 1945 Padmore assisted Kwame Nkrumah in organizing the first Pan-African Congress in Manchester, England. In 1957 Nkrumah invited Padmore to relocate to Ghana and become his advisor. This position delegated to him the responsibilities of systematizing and coordinating the liberation movements of Africa and the formation of the African Liberation Movement