January 28, 2025
At Professor Roy Augier’s 100th birthday last December, University of the West Indies (UWI) Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles hailed him as “a true Caribbean Renaissance Man”.
“What a magnificent ongoing innings – 100 not out!” Beckles said, noting that Augier was a scholar, educator, activist, World War II veteran, and administrator.
On Sunday, January 26, Sir Roy was bowled into the ancestral realm at 100 years, one month and nine days. ‘Mr Caribbean History’ himself has now taken his venerable place in the annals of the region’s history.
The world knew him as Roy Augier, but he was born Fitzroy Richard Augier on December 17, 1924, in St Lucia. He was educated at the Roman Catholic Boys Elementary School and at St Mary’s College in Castries, St Lucia’s capital.
After his wartime services, Augier pursued tertiary education in Britain at the University of London, and at Scotland’s University of St Andrews, where he got his Master of Arts degree in history and philosophy in 1949, and his PhD in 1954.
Headlines Delivered to Your Inbox
Sign up for The Gleaner’s morning and evening newsletters.
Augier did not linger in the United Kingdom, as he came to the Institute of Social and Economic Research on the Mona campus of The UWI (then the University College of the West Indies), where he was appointed a junior research fellow in 1954.
AUGIER’S EVOLUTION
In 1955, he became a lecturer in the Department of History, a senior lecturer in 1965, a professor of history in 1989, and professor emeritus in 1995.
Augier evolved into a very important and influential administrator at The UWI. He was dean of the Faculty of Arts and General Studies (1967-1972), acting principal of the Cave Hill campus, and in 1972, he was appointed pro vice-chancellor – a post he held up to 1990.
He is also credited as one of the founders of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) in 1979, representing The UWI, Mona, playing an active role since its inception. He convened the first Caribbean history subject panel, which created the syllabus for the first Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exam in 1979.
From 1986 to 1996, he served as CXC chairman, leading the initiative to replace the Cambridge Advanced Level examinations with the regional Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE). He was a co-opted member of the Final Awards Committee and the Subcommittee of the School Examination Committee, and led many curriculum development and teacher-training workshops for CSEC and CAPE preparation.
In an advertisement published in The Gleaner shortly after his 100th birthday, the CXC hailed Augier as a “CXC pioneer”, “a distinguished Caribbean historian”, and a “CXC living legend”.
For his contribution to regional archival development, Augier was awarded a medal by the International Council of Archives. He also received awards from the Institute of Jamaica in 1996 and 2003, and was knighted in 1996 for his service to the field of education. In 2020, The UWI gave him its highest honour, The Chancellor’s Medal.