Adrian Cola Rienzi

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Adrian Cola Rienzi (born Krishna Deonarine in 1905, died Desh Bandu (National Patriot) on July 21, 1972) was a Trinidad and Tobago trade unionist, politician and lawyer. He founded both the Oilfields Workers Trade Union and the All Trinidad Sugar Estates and Factory Workers Union, and was involved in the establishment of three other trade unions. He was also the first president of the Trinidad and Tobago Trades Union Council, from its foundation in 1938 until 1944. In addition to working for workers rights, Rienzi also worked hard for the rights of Indo-Trinidadians. He helped secure more employment of Indo-Trinidadians in the public service, the right to cremation, the recognition of Hindu and Muslim marriages and the establishment of schools by non-Christian religious groups. Rienzi also served four terms on the San Fernando Borough Council (three as Mayor of San Fernando) and represented Victoria on the Legislative Council from 1937-1944. He then worked in the public service as a Crown Counsel.

[edit] Early life

Krishna Deonarine was born in the village of Palmyra, just east of San Fernando. His father, Deonarine Tiwari, squandered his inheritance, and was forced to move the family to San Fernando. Krishna attended Naparima College, but his family's financial problems forced him to drop out during Form 3. He found employment with J.C. Hobson, a prominent lawyer. Hobson encouraged Deonarine intellectually and lent him books from which he learned about Cola di Rienzo, fourteenth century Italian activist and patriot. In 1927 Deonarine changed his name to Adrian Cola Rienzi, naming himself after British magistrate Adrian Clarke and Cola di Rienzo.

The Rienzi-Kirton Highway in San Fernando is named partly in honour of him. It is the only highway in Trinidad and Tobago named for an Indo-Trinidadian.