The First Female Island Scholar (1938): Marcelle DeFreitas
Date of Birth : 18th December 1920.
Place of Birth: Friendly Village, Colonaire.
Parents: Joseph and Olive DeFreitas.
Siblings: She was the 1st girl- the 3rd of 11 children: 8 brothers and 2 sisters.
Education: Marcelle DeFreitas attended the Bellevue Roman Catholic Primary School.
She earned a secondary school place at the Girls’ High School where in 1938 she sat and was successful in attaining the standard of the London Matriculation Examination. Marcelle then attended university in Canada: she read Modern Languages at McGill University in Quebec and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree.
Employment: 1944 to 1984
During this time period Marcelle DeFreitas was employed as a Modern Languages and Sewing Mistress at Havergal College, a university Preparatory Day and Boarding School for Girls.
She spent her whole teaching career at Havergal College and was given the title of Senior Mistress. She retired in 1984.
Pioneer Status
In 1938 Marcelle De Freitas was the ninth recipient of the Island Scholarship and was the first girl (and Girls’ High School student) to become the Island Scholar.
The Island Scholarship in St Vincent was first awarded in 1921- it was biannual until 1938 when it changed and was awarded every three years. The first Island Scholar was Percival E. McIntosh Clarke who left in 1923 to read Medicine at King’s College, London.
Marcelle DeFreitas was a studious girl who not only excelled academically, but also at needlework. A few weeks before she was to sit her examinations she broke her right arm; but she was so determined that she learned to write with her left hand and was able to sit the examinations. When the results were announced Marcelle had the top marks and had attained the standard of the London Matriculation Examination which was required to be offered the Island Scholarship.
In her own academic career she was/is an inspiration and in her 40 years of teaching she was also an inspiration as attested to by her colleagues, her students and the school’s recognition of her contribution by naming a House after her- Marcelle DeFreitas House- and naming the school’s prize for Modern Languages the Marcelle DeFreitas Prize.
Marcelle DeFreitas - St Vincent’s first female Island Scholar and Girls’ High School’s first Island Scholar.
Treasure our Pioneer Vincentian Women.