Guyanese theatre, beauty and fashion pioneer Sita Singh Davenport dies at 80

(Kaieteur News) – Sita Singh Davenport, a Guyanese woman whose extraordinary life took her from the theatre stages of Georgetown to the glamour of the European modelling world, has died.

Davenport, who was born in Guyana on August 25, 1946, passed peacefully on October 1, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Florida, following a long illness. She was 80. Her death marks the passing of a woman remembered not only for her beauty and talent, but also for her pioneering contribution to Guyana’s theatre, beauty and fashion landscape.

According to a statement issued by her sister, Supriya Singh Bodden, CCH, Davenport was among the performers in Mother Courage, a production which debuted in Guyana in the late 1960s. Her connection with the arts remains etched into the history of the Theatre Guild, where her photograph still hangs in the lobby. But theatre was only one dimension of Davenport’s creative life. A trained aesthetician and hairstylist, she established Coiffure d’Elegance in Guyana during the 1960s, one of the country’s early Parisian-inspired salons. The establishment reflected her flair for beauty, fashion and style at a time when such influences were beginning to reshape Georgetown’s social and cultural scene.