PROFESSOR Emeritus Gordon Rohlehr, historian, scholar and renowned critic has died.
He died on Sunday at age 80.
Rohlehr was born in Guyana and adopted Trinidad and Tobago as his second home.
He is famous for his study of popular culture in the Caribbean, including oral poetry, calypso and cricket pioneering the academic and intellectual study of Calypso.
His work entitled Calypso and Society in Pre-Independence Trinidad (1989) is considered the world’s leading authority on its development.
Emeritus Professor at Trinidad’s St Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), he spent 40 years at the institution starting off as an assistant lecturer in 1968. 
Rohlehr received many awards for his work over the years including the University of the West Indies (UWI) Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in the combined fields of Teaching, Research, Administration and Public Service, the Nicolás Guillén Outstanding Achievements in Philosophical Literature Award by the Caribbean Philosophical Association and NGC Bocas Lit Fest Henry Swanzy Award for Distinguished Service to Caribbean Letters, which recognises the lifetime achievement of editors, publishers, critics and broadcasters.
His life and career are celebrated in a documentary film entitled Rivers of Sound.
