Odeen Ishmael, Guyanese diplomat, Died at 70

Odeen Ishmael was born on January 29, 1948 and died on January 5, 2019. He was a veteran Guyanese diplomat.

During June 2014, Ishmael retired from the diplomatic service.

Ishmael subsequent served as Guyana's ambassador to Kuwait, having been appointed to that post in January 2011.

In 2012, he was appointed as non-resident ambassador to Qatar. Before that, Ishmael also served as ambassador to Venezuela (November 2003-January 2011) and to the United States (June 1993–October 2003) and as Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS) (June 1993–October 2003).

At the OAS Ishmael was for a short time the Chairman of the Permanent Council.

During 2009, Ishmael was elected to a one-year term as Chairman of the Latin American Council, the political governing body of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), headquartered in Caracas, Venezuela.

During 1997, he earned the Cacique's Crown of Honour, Guyana's third highest national honor, for his outstanding work in diplomacy.

During 1974, Ishmael was given the Gandhi Centenary Gold Medal for academic achievement at the University of Guyana.

During January 2002, in Washington DC, Ishmael was rewarded in the United States of America with the Martin Luther King Legacy Award for International Service.

The US Congress, in joint goals, likewise paid an uncommon tribute to him in October 2003 just before he finished his administration in the United States.

His commentaries on international affairs, mostly, his analyses of South American integration issues, have been published worldwide.

As a writer, Ishmael has published books dealing with Guyanese history, culture and education; and political developments in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Ishmael can trace his ancestors back to what is now the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Ishmael has two youngsters: Safraz, a Georgetown University graduate school former student and a Physics graduate of the University of Maryland, and presently a lawyer joined to a law office in Boston; and Nadeeza (former student of the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University-(MS in Bio-Technology), who, up to 2008, worked at a hereditary qualities organization in Maryland , then as an examination researcher at Concordia University in Montreal from 2008 to 2016, is as of now appended (from 2017) to the Michener Institute in Toronto, Canada.

Evangeline his wife, held a BS in Communication Studies, and worked as a teacher for many years.

Ishmael had eight brothers and three sisters, which makes him the uncle of many children.

Odeen Ishmael passed away at 70 years old.