List of Guyanese

The Guyanese people are people of the South American nation of Guyana. Guyanese people come from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures, including indigenous, African, Indian, Chinese, and European ethnic groups. Although citizens make up the majority of Guyanese, there is a substantial number of Guyanese expatriates, dual citizens and descendants living worldwide, chiefly elsewhere in the Anglosphere.

Actors and entertainers

Robert Adams (1902–1965), British Guyanese actor, of stage and screen
Harry Baird (1931–2005), Guyanese-born British actor
Marc Matthews (born c. 1940), actor, broadcaster, writer, and producer
Ashley Walters (born 1982), British actor, rapper of Guyanese and Jamaican heritage
FyaVerse (born 1999), Jamaican singer, of Guyanese heritage
T-Bone Wilson, Guyanese-born British actor, dramatist, and poet
Ian Valz (1957–2010), actor, playwright, and filmmaker

Artists

Kwesi Abbensetts, Guyanese-born American photographer
SAINt JHN, Guyanese, American rapper
Rihanna, American singer of Guyanese descent
Central Cee, British Rapper of Guyanese descent
Damali Abrams, American-born video artist and performance artist, of Guyanese descent
George Barber (born 1958), British Guyanese video artist
Frank Bowling (born 1939), British Guyanese painter, based in the United Kingdom
Theresa Chromati (born 1992) American-born painter, of Guyanese descent
Victor Davson (born 1948), Guyanese-born American collagist, curator, and gallerist
Ann Gollifer (born 1960) British Guyanese painter, printmaker, writer and photographer, based in Gaborone, Botswana
Maggie Harris, poet, writer, and visual artist, based in the United Kingdom
Oswald Hussein (born 1946), Guyanese sculptor of wood, of Lokono descent
Donald Locke (1930–2010), drafter, painter, sculptor
Hew Locke (born 1959), Scottish-born sculptor, raised in Guyana and based in London
Leila Locke (1936–1992), English-born Guyanese painter
Suchitra Mattai (born 1973), Guyanese-born American multidisciplinary contemporary artist
Philip Moore (1921–2012), sculptor and painter
Bernadette Persaud (born 1946), painter
Ingrid Pollard (born 1953) British Guyanese photographer
Lenny Prince (born 1965), Guyanese-born American sculptor and large scale installation artist
Doris Rogers (1929–2016), Guyanese academic who specialized in fine arts

Athletes

Martin Braithwaite (born 1991), Danish professional footballer, of Guyanese descent
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (born 1974), cricket coach and former captain of the West Indies cricket team
Nicolette Fernandes (born 1983), British squash player, representing Guyana
Lance Gibbs (born 1934), cricketer
Carl Hooper (born 1966), cricketer
Rohan Kanhai (born 1935), cricketer
Clive Lloyd (born 1944), British Guyanese cricketer
Ramnaresh Sarwan (born 1980), cricketer
Kwesi Sinclair (born 1978), Guyanese-born cricketer who represented British Virgin Islands

Businesspeople

Arif Ali (born 1935), Guyana-born British publisher, and newspaper proprietor
Elizabeth Swain Bannister (1785–1828), Barbadian-born businessperson and freewoman, who lived in Berbice, a Dutch Colony (what is now Guyana)
John Meredith Ford (1923–1995), businessman and politician

Musicians

Anjulie (born 1983), Canadian singer of Indo-Guyanese descent
Aubrey Cummings (1947–2010), Guyana-born Barbadian musician
Central Cee (born 1998), English rapper of Guyanese and Chinese ancestry
FyaVerse (born 1999), Jamaican singer, of Guyanese heritage
Leona Lewis (born 1985), English singer of Guyanese descent
Lynette Dolphin (1916–2000), musician, educator, chair of the Guyana Department of Culture
Rudolph Dunbar (1907–1988), conductor, composer, musician
Melanie Fiona (born 1983), Canadian singer and songwriter, of Guyanese descent
Eddy Grant (born 1948), British Guyanese singer, songwriter
Keko (Guyanese rapper) (born 1974), rapper, radio personality
Preme (born 1986; also known as P. Reign), Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer, of Guyanese descent
Red Café (born 1976; born as Jermaine Alfred Denny), Guyanese-born American rapper
Rihanna (born 1988), Barbadian singer, of Afro-Guyanese descent on her maternal side
Saint Jhn (born 1986; born as Carlos St. John Phillips), American rapper, raised in Guyana
Sandhja (born 1991), Finnish singer, of Indo-Guyanese and Finnish descent
Sol Raye (1936–2006), cabaret musician

Politicians and activists

Margaret Ackman (?–2013), politician and a founding member of the People’s National Congress Reform
Andaiye (1942–2019), social, political, and gender rights activist
Antony Beaujon (c. 1763–1805), civil servant and politician
Juan Edghill (born 1964), pastor and politician; founder and bishop of Zadok Ministers Fellowship
John Meredith Ford (1923–1995), businessman and politician
Valerie Hart (1933–2021), indigenous political leader from the Wapishana ethnic group and a member of Guyana's Amerindian Party
Jim Jones (1931-1978), American cult leader, expatriate in Guyana, and founder of Jonestown
Abdul Kadir (1952-2018), politician, convicted terrorist
Edwina Melville (1926–1993), writer, teacher, politician, and advocate of the Wapishana peoples

Writers

Michael Abbensetts (1938–2016), Guyana-born British playwright and screenwriter
John Agard (born 1949), Guyana-born British playwright, poet and children's writer
Arif Ali (born 1935), Guyana-born British publisher, and newspaper proprietor
E. R. Braithwaite (1912–2016), writer
Jan Carew (1920–2012), Guyana-born novelist, playwright, poet and educator
Martin Carter (1927–1997), poet and political activist
David Dabydeen (born 1955), Guyanese-born broadcaster, writer and academic
Wilson Harris (1921–2018) poet, novelist
Roy Heath (1926–2008) Guyanese-born writer, based in the UK
Matthew James Higgins (1810–1868), British writer, he lived part time in British Guiana
Edgar Mittelholzer (1909–1965), novelist
Walter Rodney (1942–1980), politician, activist and historian
Ivan Van Sertima (1935–2009) Guyanese-born British Africanist and academic
A. J. Seymour (1914–1989), writer, editor, and publisher
Eric Walrond (1898–1966), British Guyanese-born American writer and journalist, associated with the Harlem Renaissance
Shana Yardan (1943–1989), poet and broadcaster

References