Jewish History in Guyana

Jews have been part of Guyana's story for more than four hundred years. It's a history most people don't know: early settlers, wartime refugees, a Jewish president, and a community that has quietly persisted through it all.

Early History

The first recorded Jews in Guyana arrived in the mid-1600s, during the period of Dutch rule. In 1658, a Jewish leader named David Nassy negotiated with Dutch authorities to establish a settlement along the Pomeroon River. The community grew and contributed to the local economy until 1666, when an English invasion from Barbados destroyed it and scattered its residents. Many fled to neighboring Suriname, home to a more established and protected Jewish community.

Under British rule, Guyana's expanding sugar economy drew merchants and traders from across the empire, including Sephardic Jewish families from the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Their numbers were never large, but their presence was real.

The 20th Century

During the 1930s, as Nazi persecution intensified in Europe, British Guiana was floated as a possible refuge for Jewish refugees. Winston Churchill reportedly backed a proposal to resettle as many as 250,000 Jews in the colony, but it never materialized. In 1939, the S.S. Koenigstein, carrying 165 Jewish refugees, was turned away at port. A small group of about 50 refugees who had escaped via Spain were eventually granted temporary shelter during the war, though most moved on afterward.

A Notable Figure

The most remarkable chapter in Guyana's Jewish story may belong to Janet Rosenberg Jagan (1920–2009). Born in Chicago to Jewish immigrant parents from Romania and Hungary, she came to Guyana after marrying Cheddi Jagan, who later became the country's first president. After his death, Janet was elected president in her own right, serving from 1997 to 1999 and becoming one of only a handful of Jewish heads of state in modern history.

Jewish Life Today

Today there are regular classes, holiday celebrations, and a growing community of people connected to Jewish life here.