Rose Leon, Wolmer’s Girls
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Rose Leon, Wolmer’s Girls
The Guardian of 23 August 1999, in its obituary of Rose Leon, recorded that she was “brought up in Kingston, where she went to Wolmer’s Girls School.” The Jamaica Gleaner of 30 January 2022 independently printed that she attended Wolmer’s Girls’ School.
The same Guardian piece said she first made her name as a beautician, started her business career in 1940, studied at the Abyssinian School of Cosmetic Chemistry in the United States, and co-founded the Leon School of Beauty Culture with her husband Arthur Leon. It wrote that in 1948 she became the first woman to chair a national political party, the Jamaica Labour Party, holding that post for 12 years; that she was elected to the House of Representatives in 1949; and that she was appointed minister of health and social welfare in 1953.
The Guardian recorded that she later joined the People’s National Party, served as deputy mayor of Kingston in 1971–72, and was an MP and minister of local government in Michael Manley’s 1972 administration. It said she held “the singular position of being the first Jamaican politician to hold ministerial posts under both political parties.” The paper reported that she had been murdered in her home in Jamaica at the age of 85, and that she was survived by her daughter Gloria.