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Dudley Joseph Thompson (19 January 1917 – 20 January 2012) was a Pan-Africanist, lawyer, politician and diplomat, who made a contribution to jurisprudence and politics in the Caribbean, Africa and elsewhere internationally.
Thompson married Genevieve Hannah Cezair in 1945; they had a son and three daughters, including the novelist Margaret Cezair-Thompson. "Lauded Caribbean author to give reading: Cezair-Thompson chosen for Visiting Scholar post at Bermuda College", BDA Sun, 13 April 2007. .
In 1946, he went to England to attend Merton College, Oxford, where he studied jurisprudence, as a Rhodes Scholar, obtaining degrees as a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Civil Law. From Kingston to Kenya: the making of a pan-Africanist lawyer, by Dudley Thompson with Margaret Cezair Thompson. Foreword by Rex Nettleford. Dover, MA: The Majority Press, 1993.
After qualifying as a barrister at Gray's Inn, London, in 1950, and doing tutelage with Dingle Foot, QC, Thompson went on to practise law in Africa – in Tanganyika and Kenya, where he became involved in the nationalist movements. He assembled the international legal team that defended Jomo Kenyatta in his trial after he had been arrested by the Kenya Colony in 1952 and subsequently charged with treason, accused of being an instigator of the Mau Mau rebellion. Later as President of Kenya, Kenyatta memorably placed his hand on Thompson sitting beside him and said: "This man saved my life."John Muchangi and agencies, "Man Who 'Saved' Kenyatta Dies", The Star, Kenya, 1 February 2012. In Tanzania, where he was a friend of Julius Nyerere, Thompson is remembered as a founder of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU).
In 1955, he returned to Jamaica, where he introduced the Office of the Ombudsman, serving for many years, from 1962, as president of the Jamaica Bar Association. "The Honorable Dudley Thompson: A life well-lived, a man to remember", The Final Call, 24 January 2012. He continued to educate people about furthering the links between Africa and the Caribbean, visiting schools to deliver inspirational addresses about the continent (Jamaica-born writer Lindsay Barrett was inspired to decide to live in Africa by one such visit that Thompson paid to his school, Clarendon College, in 1957).Lindsay Barrett, "Black History Month: Dudley Thompson, When Jamaica meets Africa", The Africa Report, 6 February 2012. .
Thompson practised law in Trinidad, Barbados, St. Kitts, Dominica, Bermuda, Grenada, The Bahamas, Belize and elsewhere in the West Indies, playing a role in the independence movements of both Belize and the Bahamas. In 1962, he successfully lobbied for the colour scheme black–gold–green (the colours of the African National Congress) to be used as the basis of the Flag of Jamaica. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1963.
From 1962 to 1978, he served as a member of the Jamaican Senate, and, from 1978 to 1983, as a member of the House of Representatives.
In the People's National Party (PNP) administration under Prime Minister Michael Manley, he was Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (1972–7), Minister of Mining and Natural Resources (1977–78), and Minister of National Security and Justice (1978–80). He was also a vice-president and later chairman of the PNP.Michael Burke, "Dudley Thompson's contribution", Jamaica Observer, 26 January 2012.
Shortly before his death, Thompson apologised for his role in the Green Bay Massacre, when members of the military ambushed young Jamaica Labour Party (JLP0 supporters, and shot them down in cold blood.Horace G. Campbell, "Edward Seaga and the Institutionalization of Thuggery, Violence and Dehumanization in Jamaica", CounterPunch, 14 June 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
Thompson represented Jamaica in many international forums, including the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity (OAU). In 1992 he was empanelled as a member of the Eminent Persons Group charged with implementing the movement for reparations for slavery to Africa and the African diaspora, under the auspices of the OAU.
Thompson was appointed Ambassador and High Commissioner to several African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Namibia and Sierra Leone, based in Nigeria until 1995.H. G. Helps, "Dudley is dead! – Former Cabinet Minister's long innings ends at 95", Jamaica Observer, 21 January 2011. . "Pan-African and Jamaican statesman Dudley Thompson has died. He was 95", The Miami Herald, 20 January 2012.
He died at the age of 95 in New York City.
He was awarded the Mico Old Students' Gold Medal – the most prestigious teacher's award.Geof Brown, "The Mico College phenomenon", The Jamaica Gleaner, 20 October 2000. .
The African Union declared him a "first citizen" passport of the continent because of his work for Africa internationally. "Dudley Thompson is Africa's 'first citizen'", Jamaica Observer, 2 October 2011. The OAU had earlier awarded him a medal in recognition of his status as a "Legend of Africa".
In 2006, in Ghana he was honoured as a "Living Legend of Africa". "Former Ja'can foreign minister named African Living Legend", Jamaica Gleaner, 8 October 2006. .
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