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.

Contents

• Actors and entertainers
• Artists
• Athletes
• Businesspeople
• Musicians
• Politicians and activists
• Writers
• See also
• References

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
• Tony Tornado (born 1930), Brazilian actor of Guyanese origin
• Ian Valz (1957–2010), actor, playwright and filmmaker
• Ashley Walters (born 1982), British actor, rapper of Guyanese and Jamaican origin
• T-Bone Wilson, Guyanese-born British actor, dramatist, and poet

Artists

• Kwesi Abbensetts, Guyanese-born American photographer
• Rihanna, Barbadian 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
• Olivia Dean (born 1999), English singer of Guyanese descent
• 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
• Phil Lynott (1949-1985), Irish musician of Guyanese descent, lead vocalist, bassist, and songwriter for Thin Lizzy
• 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

See also

• List of Guyanese British people
• List of Eastern Caribbean people

References