Gabriel Baccus Matthews
Gabriel Bacchus Matthews | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 1990–1993 | |
| President | Amos Sawyer |
| Preceded by | H. Boima Fahnbulleh Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Rudolph Sherman |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 1980–1981 | |
| President | Samuel K. Doe |
| Preceded by | Cecil Dennis |
| Succeeded by | H. Boima Fahnbulleh Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1948 |
| Died | September 7, 2007 |
| Party | United People's Party |
Gabriel Bacchus Matthews (1948 – 7 September 2007) was a Liberian politician and pro-democracy activist. He was one of the leading figures in the movement that challenged the century-long dominance of the True Whig Party and helped introduce multi-party politics in Liberia. In 1975 he founded the Progressive Alliance of Liberia (PAL), one of the first major opposition movements to emerge in Liberia since the collapse of the Republican Party in the nineteenth century. He has been described by some commentators as the "father of multiparty democracy" in Liberia because of his role in organizing early opposition movements to the True Whig Party.
PAL was succeeded by the Progressive People Party (PPP) and later the United People's Party. Matthews twice served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liberia, under Samuel K. Doe (1980–1981) and later under Amos Sawyer (1990–1993).