>Chris the speller at 15:23, 15 December 2021

2021-12-15T15:23:17Z

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{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}

{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix =
|name = George Gilbert Swell
|native_name =
|native_name_lang =
|honorific-suffix =
|image =
|imagesize =
|smallimage = 
|alt =
|caption =
|order = [[Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha]]
| term_start = 1969
| term_end = 1977
|predecessor = [[R.K.Khadilkar]]
|successor = [[Godey Murahari]]
|office1 = [[Member of Parliament]], [[Lok Sabha]]
|term_start1 = 1962
|term_end1 = 1977
|predecessor1 = [[Bonily Khongmen]]
|successor1 = [[Biren Singh Engti]]
|constituency1 = [[Autonomous District (Lok Sabha constituency)|Autonomous District]], [[Assam]]
|office2 =
|term_start2 = 1984
|term_end2 = 1989
|predecessor2 = [[Bajubon Kharlukhi]]
|successor2 = [[Peter G. Marbaniang]]
|constituency2 =
|office3 =
|term_start3 = 1996
|term_end3 = 1998
|predecessor3 = [[Peter G. Marbaniang]]
|successor3 = [[Paty Ripple Kyndiah]]
|constituency3 = [[Shillong (Lok Sabha constituency)|Shillong]], [[Meghalaya]]
|office4 = [[Member of Parliament]], [[Rajya Sabha]]
|term_start4 = 1990
|term_end4 = 1996
|constituency4 = [[Meghalaya]]
|birth_date = 5 August 1923
|birth_place = Laitkynsew, [[Khasi Hills]], [[Assam]], [[British India]]
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1999|1|25|1923|8|5|df=y}}
|death_place = [[Shillong]], [[Meghalaya]], [[India]]
|restingplace =
|restingplacecoordinates =
|birthname =
|citizenship =
|nationality = Indian
|party =
|otherparty = 
|spouse =
|partner = 
|relations =
|children =
|residence =
|alma_mater = [[Scottish Church College]]<br />[[University of Calcutta]]
|occupation =
|profession =
|cabinet =
|committees =
|portfolio =
|religion =
| website =
| footnotes =
| date =
| year =
| source = http://164.100.47.194/loksabha/writereaddata/biodata_1_12/1672.htm
}}

'''George Gilbert Swell''' (5 August 1923 – 25 January 1999) was a college professor, an [[India]]n politician, an ambassador to several countries, a former [[Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha|Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha]] and its member from [[Shillong (Lok Sabha constituency)|Shillong]] in [[Meghalaya]]. Over a span of more than 35 years, he represented India at high levels nationally and internationally. Though arising from a modest and rural background in far Northeast India, Swell quickly rose to prominence in every field he entered.

==Early life==
He was born at Laitkynsew Village near [[Cherrapunji]] in the present-day state of Meghalaya. He completed his earlier years of schooling at the Ramakrishna Mission School at Cherrapunji. After passing the Bachelor of arts examination from the [[Scottish Church College]], Kolkata, he completed his Master of Arts degree in English from the [[University of Calcutta]] in 1946. Within months thereafter, he married a Shillong beauty, Lajopthiaw ("Victorious Conqueror") Lyngdoh, second daughter of Phrolibon Lyngdoh and Wellington Kearney. Soon after, their first child, Lakyntiew ("She Who Has Uplifted Us"), was born (1947), followed by a son, Sanbor, in 1950. In 1952, they moved to Ethiopia, part of a cadre of instructors recruited to teach in Ethiopia in the early nineteen fifties. Swell taught English at the high school level. They returned to Shillong in 1956, and G. G. Swell threw himself into his new positions as a professor of English at several Shillong area colleges. It wasn't long before he entered into the political world of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills. His contribution to the formation of the state of Meghalaya, breaking away from the parent state of Assam, is incontrovertible. He, with his wife's uncle, [[B.B. Lyngdoh|Brington B Lyngdoh]], and Stanley Nichols Roy, as well as other community leaders, conducted a fierce campaign for the separate identity of their proposed state which would combine the peoples of the Khasi and Janintia Hills and other tribes from the Garo Hills and adjacent areas. To their credit, the campaign was bloodless, nonviolent and successful. It was not long before G. G. Swell moved into national politics, having earned recognition for his intellect and passion for leadership, and for his principled and ethical way of life.

==Political career==
He was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Autonomous Districts (Lok Sabha) constituency in 1962, 1967 and 1971 and from the Shillong (Lok Sabha) constituency in 1984 and 1996. He was the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 9 December 1969 to 27 December 1970 in [[4th Lok Sabha|the 4th Lok Sabha]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/Members/lokprelist.aspx?lsno=4 |title=4th Lok Sabha |access-date=21 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021123410/http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/Members/lokprelist.aspx?lsno=4 |archive-date=21 October 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and again 27 March 1971 to 18 January 1977.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/Members/lokprelist.aspx?lsno=5 |title=5th Lok Sabha}}</ref>

Swell served as India's ambassador to [[Norway]] and Iceland from 1977 to 1980 (appointed by PM Moraji Desai), and [[Burma]], 1980 to 1984 (appointed by PM Indira Gandhi). Subsequently, he was appointed as ambassador-designate to Canada, then Spain, but instead chose to return to national political life in India. In 1985, as a member of parliament, he served as the head of the Indian delegation to the United National General Assembly, New York. In 1992 he contested the [[1992 Indian presidential election|Indian presidential election]] as a joint opposition candidate against [[Shankar Dayal Sharma]] but lost. He was member of the Rajya Sabha (upper house of Parliament) from Meghalaya during 1990-1996.<ref name="Rajya Sabha">{{cite web|url=http://164.100.47.5/Newmembers/alphabeticallist_all_terms.aspx |title=List of Rajya Sabha members Since 1952}}</ref>

The worsening health of his wife, Lajopthiaw, who died in early 1998, was a factor in his withdrawal from political life.

== Death ==
He died on 25 January 1999.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/jan/25swell.htm
|title=Former deputy speaker G G Swell dies at 75
|work=Rediff
|accessdate=2012-04-17}}</ref> To honor his many years of public service, his daughter, Lakyntiew Lyngdoh Watrous, and his granddaughter, Yarissa Lyngdoh Sommer, established a museum in the town of his birth, Laitkynsew, in 2016. Through photography, artifacts, and documentary films it depicts the chronology and achievements of his lengthy career.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://164.100.47.194/loksabha/writereaddata/biodata_1_12/1672.htm Official Biographical Sketch in Lok Sabha Website]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swell, George Gilbert}}
[[Category:Meghalaya politicians]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to Norway]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to Myanmar|1980]]
[[Category:Deputy Speakers of the Lok Sabha]]
[[Category:3rd Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:4th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:5th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:8th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:11th Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:Ramakrishna Mission schools alumni]]
[[Category:Scottish Church College alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Candidates for President of India]]
[[Category:People from East Khasi Hills district]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Meghalaya]]
[[Category:Rajya Sabha members from Meghalaya]]
[[Category:1923 births]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]

George Gilbert Swell - Revision history

>Chris the speller at 15:23, 15 December 2021