Hugh Desmond Hoyte (9 March 1929 – 22 December 2002) was a Guyanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Guyana from 1984 to 1985 and President of Guyana from 1985 until 1992. Early Life and Education Hoyte was born on 9 March 1929 to a middle-class family in Georgetown, the capital of British Guiana. He was educated at St Barnabas Anglican School and Progressive High School. In 1948, he joined the civil service, then entered public service as a teacher in Guyana and Grenada. While he was working, Hoyte earned an external B.A. from the University of London in 1950. In 1957, he went to the UK to pass his bar exams at the Middle Temple and earn an LL.B., which he received in 1959. In 1960 he joined the same law practice as Forbes Burnham (Clarke and Martin), before setting up private practice and became one of the leaders of the Guyana Bar Association. He would come to serve as a legal advisor to the Guyana Trades Union Congress. In 1962, he was appointed as a member of the General Council of the People's National Congress. In 1966, he was appointed to the National Elections Commission, which supervised the 1968 Guyanese general election. Politics After being a general council member for the party, he entered Parliament as a member of the People's National Congress in 1968 and soon began serving in the cabinet. He was Home Affairs Minister from 1969 to 1970, Finance Minister from 1970 to 1972, Works and Communications Minister from 1972 to 1974, and Economic Development Minister in 1974 to 1980. In all of his ministerial positions, Hoyte was a part of the movement of the Burnham administration towards a planned economy, particularly in his role as the Minister of Economic Development during the nationalization of the bauxite and sugar industries following the 1974 Declaration of Sophia. In 1973, he was appointed as a member of the central committee of the PNC. Following the December 1980 election he became one of five vice-presidents, with responsibility for economic planning, finance, and regional development. In August 1984, Hoyte became Prime Minister and first Vice President, replacing Hamilton Green, who was widely seen at the time as Burnham's preference for successor. Hoyte suffered a personal tragedy in 1985 when his two daughters Amanda and Maxine died in a car crash while traveling on April 30 to hear him