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The life and lega­cy of Fer­di­nand “Fer­die” Fer­reira—po­lit­i­cal or­gan­is­er, trade union­ist and life­long ad­vo­cate for the work­ing class—was cel­e­brat­ed yes­ter­day as fam­i­ly, friends and politi­cians gath­ered to bid farewell to a man wide­ly de­scribed as a con­science of pol­i­tics and a liv­ing li­brary of the na­tion’s his­to­ry.

Fer­reira, 93, a stal­wart of the Peo­ple’s Na­tion­al Move­ment (PNM), was re­mem­bered as a grass­roots fig­ure who rose from hum­ble be­gin­nings to be­come one of the most in­flu­en­tial voic­es in Trinidad and To­ba­go’s po­lit­i­cal life.

His in­flu­ence, mourn­ers said, was nev­er root­ed in of­fice or ti­tle, but in his abil­i­ty to con­nect with or­di­nary peo­ple while of­fer­ing prin­ci­pled guid­ance to those in pow­er.