Jamaican diplomat, politician and educator Ambassador Anthony Johnson has died.

Johnson, 82, the father of Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kamina Johnson-Smith, was throughout his career a Jamaican Ambassador to the United States, high commissioner to the United Kingdom, member of parliament and leader of opposition business in the Senate.

“I am deeply saddened, today, following the passing of Ambassador Anthony Johnson,” said Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

“He led a life that can only be described as selfless, having made invaluable contributions to both the private and public sectors and as an educator lecturing at the University of the West Indies for many years.”

A graduate of Kingston College, he would later attain a BA in Economics and an MA in International Trade and Finance from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Early in his career he worked as an economist for the Ministry of Finance and as a planner for the Central Planning Unit of Jamaica. From 1970 to 1980, Johnson spent time in the private sector, running the operations of Jamaica Frozen Foods, Jamgro Ltd. and the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica.

In 1980, he joined the Jamaica Labour Party and was appointed to the Senate. He left the Senate in 1983 to run and become MP for Northeast St Catherine, a position he held for the next decade.

JOHNSON HELD SEVERAL MINISTERIAL PORTFOLIOS

During his time in Parliament, the House of Representatives, he held portfolios including industry, commerce, mining, energy, technology, education, and agriculture.

Johnson returned to the Senate in 1993, remaining there for the next 14 years, while also lecturing at the University of the West Indies’ Department of Management Studies from 1992 to 2008.

Since leaving public office, he had been working in the Jamaican Foreign Service, travelling to Washington, DC in 2008 to serve as Jamaican Ambassador to the United States and Permanent Representative to the Organisation of American States.

He held this post until May 2010, when he was sent to London to represent Jamaica as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and as non-resident Ambassador to the Republic of Finland, the Kingdoms of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, and Ireland.

“Ambassador Johnson is known in many quarters as an exceptional humanitarian and statesman who was of unquestionable integrity and had an intense devotion to his country. He was awarded the Order of Jamaica for his service to the nation in 2016,” Holness said

“His passing has left us heartbroken,” the prime minister added as he expressed “heartfelt condolences to his wife and four children, including our own Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kamina Johnson Smith, and the rest of his family, as they mourn this tremendous loss”.  

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