PRESIDENT David Granger has hailed as “an iconic Guyanese” Ms. Carmen Jarvis, Guyana’s renowned educationist and former Secretary General of the United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

This is even as he received from her own hands a copy of her newly published autobiography, “From Seedtime to Harvest”, at the Georgetown Club.

President Granger has celebrated the life and times of this retired UNESCO Secretary General, and in delivering an address at a classy launching ceremony for the autobiography, thanked her for contributing greatly to his own writings; assisting with two publications – the History Gazette and the Guyana Historical Journal, which he declared would not have come to fruition without her assistance.

Disclosing that his interaction with Ms. Jarvis began in the 1990s, after his military career had come to an end, Guyana’s Head of State described the 92-year-old Ms. Jarvis as “part of a class” of persons whose moral contributions to Guyana are priceless.

“Ms. Jarvis is (one who) would be described in modern-day parlance as an iconic Guyanese…. When we consider some of the reverses that we have faced, we are very grateful for that generation of persons who were born in the 1920s; because they transmitted certain values and standards, some of which has been lost, but were it not for them, Guyana would have been in a very different place.

“So I regard her not only as a person, but as a part of a class,” President Granger said.

Professor Vibert Cambridge has hailed the publication as a valuable contribution to Guyana’s history. “From Seedtime to Harvest is a valuable contribution to our understanding of contemporary Guyanese history. It is a multi-dimensional and textured work. It contributes to our understanding of the peopling of Guyana…” Professor Cambridge said.

He expressed pleasure at Government’s encouragement of Guyanese to produce autobiographies at the country’s 50th Anniversary Literary Celebration held in May this year.

Ms. Jarvis thanked all who contributed to the successful production of her autobiography, and donated copies to the National Library, the University of Guyana Library, UNESCO Office, Guyana Girl Guides and the Smyth’s Congregational Church.

The legendary Ms. Jarvis was also responsible for the introduction of ‘World Teachers Day’, celebrations in Guyana.

Professor David Dabydeen, a close friend of Ms. Jarvis’s, was responsible for preparing the preface of the book. The professor, in a message delivered by Dr. Paloma Mohammed, described Jarvis’s story as “a remarkable story of a modest upbringing in Guyana, ending with her being Headmistress of Bishops High School and later Secretary General of UNESCO Office in Guyana.”

From his description of her life, she has, from a very tender age, been a passionate pursuer of her goals. Her childhood story detailed that she had been raised in a strict home with principles built on the Bible; and her dad, being a gospel minister, was bent on her becoming a seamstress instead of a teacher.

Ms. Jarvis couldn’t bear to imagine her life outside of her educationist dream, and worked toward walking her own career path. She won a scholarship to Bishops High School, and when her dad took her for an interview with the school’s head-teacher, she confessed that she wanted to eventually become the school’s head-teacher as well.

Professor David Dabydeen said only white English folks could then head such prestigious institutions, but young Carmen Jarvis was a “radical.” In her years of teaching, she was employed at Queen’s College before being appointed as Headmistress of Bishops High School.

She later became Secretary General of UNESCO in Guyana, raising millions of dollars for several educational projects here. She was one of the longest serving and most respected Secretaries General, and was awarded the Aristotle Medal by UNESCO.

“She is enormously experienced in UNESCO matters, and (is) a woman of utmost principle. She is a national treasure. She’s someone whose example of human decency and whose example of determination enriched my life,” Professor Dabydeen said.