My Unthinkable Happen Essay

Biography

Arthur Lewis was born in Castries, Saint Lucia, then still a British territory in the Caribbean, as the fourth of five children of George and Ida Lewis. His parents had migrated from Antigua shortly after the turn of the century.[2] George Lewis died when Arthur turned seven, and Ida raised their five children alone. Arthur was a gifted student and was promoted two classes ahead of his age.[3] After finishing school at the age of fourteen, Lewis worked as a clerk, while waiting to take his university entrance exam. During this time he became friends with Eric Williams, the future first prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, and the two remained lifelong friends.[4]

After gaining his Bachelor of Science degree in 1937 and a Ph.D. degree in 1940 at the London School of Economics, Lewis worked as a member of the staff at the LSE until 1948. In 1947, he married Gladys Jacobs, and they had two daughters together.

That year he was selected as a lecturer at the University of Manchester, and moved there with his family. He taught at Manchester until 1957. During this period, he developed some of his most important concepts about the patterns of capital and wages in developing countries. He particularly became known for his contributions to development economics, of great interest as former colonies began to gain independence from European nations.

When Ghana gained independence in 1957, its government appointed Lewis as their first economic advisor. He helped draw up its first Five-Year Development Plan (1959–1963).[5]

In 1959 Lewis returned to the Caribbean region when appointed Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies in . In 1963 he was knighted for his contributions to economics.

That year, he was also appointed a University Professor at Princeton University and moved to the United States. Lewis worked at Princeton for the next