Robert Milton Cato was the first prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines when those West Indian islands achieved their political independence in 1979. Born on 3 June 1915, he was educated at the St Vincent Grammar School and later at the University of London, England. After serving in the Canadian Army during Wor1d War II, he returned to practise law in St Vincent and became actively involved in local and Caribbean politics. He was one of the founders of the St Vincent Labour Party (SLVP) in 1955 and was elected to the West Indian federal parliament in 1958. In 1967, as leader of the SLVP, Cato became chief minister when that island was still a British dependency He served as prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines until 1984. He died on 10 February 1997.
CATO, Milton
