View source for Rudy Insanally

{{Short description|Guyananese diplomat and politician (1936–2023)}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox Officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = 
| name                = Rudy Insanally
| image               = Rudy Insanally 2006.jpg
| caption             = Insanally in 2006
| imagesize           = 
| order               = [[President of the United Nations General Assembly]]
| term_start          = 1993
| term_end            = 1994
| predecessor         = [[Stoyan Ganev]]
| successor           = [[Amara Essy]]
| office1             = [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Guyana)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]
| term_start1         = 2001
| term_end1           = 2008
| predecessor1        = [[Clement Rohee]]
| successor1          = [[Carolyn Rodrigues]]
| birth_name          = Samuel Rudolph Insanally
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=yes|1936|1|23}}
| birth_place         = [[Georgetown, Guyana|Georgetown]], [[British Guyana]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|df=yes|2023|11|26|1936|1|23}}
| death_place         = 
| spouse              = 
| nationality         = Guyanese
}}

'''Samuel Rudolph Insanally''' (23 January 1936 – 26 November 2023) was a Guyanese diplomat. He was Guyana's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1987 onwards<ref name=Office/><ref name=UN>[http://www2.un.int/public/Guyana/3/English/ Permanent Representatives of the Republic of Guyana to the United Nations], Permanent Mission of the Republic of Guyana to the United Nations.</ref> and was [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Guyana)|Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guyana]] from 2001 to 2008.<ref name=Retire>[http://www.gina.gov.gy/archive/daily/b080328.html "Insanally to retire as Minister of Foreign Affairs"], GINA, 28 March 2008.</ref>

==Early life==
Insanally was born in [[Georgetown, Guyana]] on 23 January 1936.<ref name=Office>[http://www.op.gov.gy/stories/060910.html "President Jagdeo swears in new Cabinet Ministers"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004200536/http://www.op.gov.gy/stories/060910.html |date=4 October 2009 }}, Office of the President of Guyana, 9 September 2006.</ref> Before his career as a diplomat began, he taught French and Spanish in Jamaica at [[Kingston College (Jamaica)|Kingston College]] and [[Jamaica College]], as well as in Guyana at [[Queen's College, Guyana|Queen's College]] and the [[University of Guyana]].<ref name=":0" />

==Diplomatic career==
In his first diplomatic posting, he was Counsellor to Guyana's Embassy to the United States from 1966 to 1969, and he subsequently became Guyana's ''[[chargé d'affaires]]'' in Venezuela in 1970. He was briefly his country's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 1972, then served as Ambassador to Venezuela (with additional accreditation for Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru) from 1972 to 1978.<ref name=Office/><ref name=Retire/> After this posting, he was Permanent Representative to the [[European Economic Community]] and Ambassador to Belgium; although living in [[Brussels]], he was also Ambassador to Austria, Norway, and Sweden at this time.<ref name=Office/>

Subsequently, having returned to Guyana, Insanally was Head of the Political Division covering the Western Hemisphere, also serving as Ambassador to Colombia and as [[High Commissioner (Commonwealth)|High Commissioner]] to a number of Caribbean nations.<ref>[http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/guyana/pid/3570 Permanent Representatives of the Republic of Guyana to the United Nations] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122082827/http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/guyana/pid/3570 |date=22 November 2008 }},</ref><ref name=Office/> He became the Permanent Representative (ambassador) of Guyana to the United Nations on 18 February 1987.<ref name=UN/> At the UN, he was vice-president of the [[United Nations Council for Namibia]] prior to Namibian independence in 1990, and in April 1990 he was Vice-president/Rapporteur of the Special Session of the [[United Nations General Assembly|General Assembly]] on International Economic Cooperation. He was the President of the Forty-Eighth Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which was held from 1993 to 1994.<ref>[http://www2.un.int/public/Guyana/5/English/ Presidency of the General Assembly, Forty-Eighth Session (1993–1994)], Permanent Mission of the Republic of Guyana to the United Nations.</ref> He was the longest serving delegate at the time to the United Nations. In the course of Insanally's duties at the Permanent Mission to the UN, he concurrently served as Ambassador to Japan from 1992.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/01/15/news/guyana/rudy-insanally-bestowed-with-japanese-honour/|title=Rudy Insanally bestowed with Japanese honour|date=15 January 2010|website=Stabroek News|language=en|access-date=12 June 2022}}</ref>

During his presidency, he convened a World Hearing on Development attended by a large number of eminent persons, including experts, academics and practitioners of development in June 1994. He also served as Chairman of the Open Ended Working Group on the question of Equitable Representation on and increase of the Membership of the Security Council.

Insanally was Chancellor of the [[University of Guyana]] from 1994 to 2001.<ref name=":0" /> He became [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Guyana)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]] in May 2001.<ref name=Office/> After seven years in that post, the government announced on 28 March 2008 that Insanally had decided to resign as Foreign Minister for "health and other personal reasons", although he would "continue to discharge certain other responsibilities in his engagement with Government".<ref name=Retire/> His replacement, [[Carolyn Rodrigues]], was sworn in on 10 April.<ref>[http://www.gina.gov.gy/archive/daily/b080410.html "Two new Ministers sworn in before President Jagdeo"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605121751/http://www.gina.gov.gy/archive/daily/b080410.html |date=5 June 2011 }}, GINA, 10 April 2008.</ref>

==Personal life and death==
Rudy Insanally was married to Bonita, and had one daughter, Dr. Amanda Insanally-Nunez.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://guyanachronicle.com/after-50-years-of-being-a-diplomat-par-excellence/|title=After 50 years of being a diplomat par excellence…|last=Ramnarine|first=Telesha|date=20 September 2014|website=Guyana chronicle.|language=en-US|access-date=22 September 2016}}</ref> He died on 26 November 2023, at the age of 87.<ref>[https://demerarawaves.com/2023/11/26/former-foreign-affairs-minister-rudy-insanally-dies/ Former Foreign Affairs Minister Rudy Insanally dies]</ref><ref>[https://newsroom.gy/2023/11/26/fmr-foreign-affairs-minister-dr-rudy-insanally-dies/ Fmr. Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Rudy Insanally dies]</ref>

==Publications==
* Rudy Insanally, ''Multilateral Diplomacy for Small States: "The art of letting others have your way"'' (2012)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://guyanachronicle.com/dr-rudy-insanally-launches-his-book-multilateral-diplomacy-for-small-states-the-art-of-letting-others-have-your-way/|title=Dr Rudy insanally launches his book "Multilateral Diplomacy for Small States – The art of letting others have your way"|date=21 January 2013|language=en-US|access-date=22 September 2016}}</ref>
* Rudy Insanally, ''Dancing Between the Raindrops: A Dispatch From A Small State Diplomat'' (2015)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://guyanachronicle.com/rudy-insanally-launches-dancing-between-the-raindrops/|title=Rudy Insanally launches 'Dancing between the Raindrops'|date=14 August 2014|language=en-US|access-date=22 September 2016}}</ref>
* Rudy Insanally, ''The Guyanese Culture: Fusion or Diffusion.'' (2018)
* S.R. Insanally, ''The Mystery of God: The Principles of God Diplomacy''. (2020)

==Honors==
* Order of Roraima (O.R). 1995. (Guyana ).
* Order of the Liberator. Grand Cordon. 1978 (Venezuela).
* Order of the Southern Cross, Grand Cordon. 2003. (Brazil).
* [[Order of the Rising Sun|Order of the Rising Sun, Grand Cordon]], 2009 (Japan).<ref name="mofa2009">[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan)|Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs]], [http://www.mofa.go.jp/ICSFiles/afieldfile/2009/11/04/2009_Autumn_Conferment_of_Decorations_on_Foreign_Nationals.pdf "2009 Autumn Conferment of Decorations on Foreign Nationals," p. 1.]</ref>
* Doctor of Laws (Hon.) Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts. (USA).

==Yearly achievements==
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Year
!Achievement
|-
|1959–1996
|Prior to 1966 Insanally held teaching positions in modern languages from 1959 to 1966 at Kingston and Jamaica Colleges, Jamaica; Queen's College, Guyana; and at the University of Guyana. 
|-
|1966–1969
|Counselor at the Guyana Embassy in Washington, D.C.
|-
|1970
|Appointed ''Charge d'affaires'' in Caracas, Venezuela
|-
|1972
|Transferred to the Permanent Mission of Guyana to the United Nations where as Deputy Permanent Representative, he was active in the negotiations for the Second Development Decade Strategy.
|-
|1972–1978
|He returned as Ambassador to Venezuela with concurrent accreditation to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. During this period, he participated in the work of various regional organizations such as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Organization of American States (OAS), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC) and the Latin American Economic System (SELA).
|-
|1981
|Permanent Representative to the European Economic Community in Brussels where he also served as Ambassador to Belgium and on a non-resident basis to Austria, Norway and Sweden. 
Played a prominent role in the negotiation of the Second Lome (ACP-EEC) Convention. 

Elected Chairman of the Sugar Sub-Committee on several occasions and later Chairman of the Trade Sub-Committee for the negotiation of a Protocol to provide for the enlargement of the Community. 

Appointed Special Rapporteur for the Joint ACP-EEC Assembly on the implementation of the Lome Convention.
|-
|1982
|Returned to Guyana as Head of the Political Division covering the Western Hemisphere.
Served as roving High Commissioner to several Caribbean countries and as Ambassador to Colombia. During this period, he was also a member of the Board of - Governors of the Institute of International Relations, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.
|-
|1987
|Occupied the post of Permanent Representative to the United Nations. In this capacity, he was
|-
|1993
|Elected President of the forty-eighth Session of the United Nations General Assembly and during that period served as Chairman of the Working Group on the Reform of the Security Council. 
Also presided over the World Hearings on Development held at UN Headquarters. 
|-
|1994–2001
|Served as Chancellor of the University of Guyana.
|-
|1981
|Attended high-level meetings of many other international and regional organizations such as the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 77 and the Commonwealth.
Participated in the North/South Summit held in Cancun, Mexico.
|-
|1999
|Served as Chairman of the Group of 77 and as Chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the South Summit. 
|-
|2001
|Member of the Council of Presidents of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
|}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[https://2001-2009.state.gov/secretary/former/powell/remarks/2002/7905.htm Press Conference with Samuel Insanally, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Guyana, and Chair of Caribbean Community Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR); Janet Bostwick, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Commonwealth of the Bahamas; and Edwin Carrington, Secretary General of the Caribbean Community], US Department of State

{{s-start}}
{{s-dip}}
{{succession box|before=[[Stoyan Ganev]]|title=[[President of the United Nations General Assembly]]|years=1993–1994|after=[[Amara Essy]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Presidents of the UN General Assembly}}
{{Foreign Ministers of Guyana}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Insanally, Rudy}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:2023 deaths]]
[[Category:Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly]]
[[Category:Permanent representatives of Guyana to the United Nations]]
[[Category:People from Georgetown, Guyana]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun]]
[[Category:Foreign ministers of Guyana]]
[[Category:Government ministers of Guyana]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Guyana to Colombia]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Guyana to Venezuela]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Guyana to Ecuador]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Guyana to Peru]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Guyana to Belgium]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Guyana to Austria]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Guyana to Norway]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Guyana to Sweden]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Guyana to the European Union]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Guyana to Japan]]
[[Category:Indo-Guyanese people]]
[[Category:Guyanese politicians of Indian descent]]
[[Category:21st-century Guyanese politicians]]