Saint Lucian Embassy in Taiwan commemorates its 2 Nobel laureates

聖露西亞駐台大使館紀念兩位諾貝爾獎得主

Online event held to remember achievements of Arthur Lewis and Derek Walcott

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Saint Lucian Embassy in Taiwan held an online commemoration of its two Nobel laureates, Sir Arthur Lewis and Sir Derek Walcott, on Sunday (Jan. 23).

"The country prides itself that two of its citizens have won the highly prestigious Nobel prize, giving it the highest ratio in the world of Laureates to total population,” according to an embassy press release.

Saint Lucia holds events over the course of several weeks each year to commemorate Lewis and Walcott. This year's commemorative events have the theme “celebrating excellence” and began with a church service on Jan. 9.

Born on Jan. 23, 1915, Lewis studied economics at the London School of Economics. At just 33 years of age he became a full professor at the University of Manchester as well as the U.K.’s first Black professor.

While at the University of Manchester, he conducted pioneering research in development economics — then a new area of study.

Lewis provided policy advice to Nigeria and Ghana as well as Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and Barbados. He also helped establish the Caribbean Development Bank and was selected as its first president.

The Nobel Laureate came up with what is commonly known as the “Lewis Model,” which was considered useful in explaining the growth trends of “the Asian economic miracle” as well as China’s recent economic growth. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1979 along with Theodore Schultz "for their pioneering research into economic development research with particular consideration of the problems of developing countries."

Lewis died on June 15, 1991.

Walcott, who was born on Jan. 23, 1930, founded the Trinidad Theatre Workshop and was a co-founder of the Saint Lucia Arts Guild. He was later appointed professor of literature and writing at Boston University, where he taught for more than 20 years, publishing several books of poetry and plays, per the press release.

Walcott's most critically acclaimed work is the epic poem “Omeros,” published in 1990. It was praised by The Washington Post and The New York Times Book Review as one of the best books of that year.

Walcott was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992. He passed away on March 17, 2017.

The Saint Lucian Embassy in Taiwan released a video of its commemorative event on its website.