The Commonwealth Association

Sir Ron Sanders to speak on Ramphal’s legacy

Fifth Patsy Robertson Memorial Lecture to be held in Marlborough House

On 1 July Sir Ronald Sanders will speak in Marlborough House on the legacy of Sir Shridath ‘Sonny’ Ramphal. The lecture is the fifth in a series of lectures in memory of Patsy Robertson, who worked closely with Ramphal and was the founding chair of the Commonwealth Association, a body of former staff members of the Commonwealth Secretariat and other Commonwealth organisations. Patsy and Sonny are pictured together, above.

Sir Shridath Ramphal, who was Secretary-General of the Commonwealth from 1975 to 1990, died last year. During his term of office he was involved in a wide range of issues and developed the Commonwealth Secretariat into a powerful international organisation.

Sir Ronald Sanders KCMG KCN AM(Hon), (above) is currently Ambassador of Antigua & Barbuda to the USA and to the Organisation of American States. He was Antigua & Barbuda’s High Commissioner in London from1983 to 1987 and 1994 to 2004. He was also a member and Rapporteur of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group (2010-2011) which produced the report on Commonwealth reform,  A Commonwealth of the People: Time for Urgent Reform. He was also Sonny Ramphal’s son-in-law.

The lecture is being held in the afternoon and is preceded in the late morning by a memorial service to celebrate Sir Shridath Ramphal’s life in the Queen’s Chapel, adjacent to Marlborough House.

In the aftermath of Sir Shridath’s passing, many warm tributes have been paid to him by members of the Commonwealth Association, most of whom worked with Sir Shridath during his tenure as Commonwealth Secretary-General. The tributes can be accessed here.