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Robert Weinum: the teacher and councillor behind the name of a Saint-Martin school

A profile of Robert Weinum (1937–2011), the Grand-Case-born teacher and long-serving conseiller général whose name is carried by the Cité Scolaire Robert Weinum.

By SXM Daily ·

Robert Weinum was a teacher and long-serving conseiller général for Saint-Martin. Born in Grand-Case in 1937, he spent decades in public life on the French side, and the Cité Scolaire Robert Weinum in La Savane now carries his name.

Grand Case Bay, Saint-Martin (illustrative)

Illustrative: Grand Case Bay. Photo: David Broad / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

From the classroom

Weinum was born in Grand-Case in 1937, according to the lycée that bears his name. He worked first as a teacher and later as a bank employee. Faxinfo, in its tribute, also remembered him as a teacher, a fitting background for the man whose name would one day be given to a school.

Conseiller général

Weinum became conseiller général for Saint-Martin around 1979–81 and held the seat until 1998, representing the island. The lycée's own history and SMN News both describe his long service in the role, which made him one of Saint-Martin's voices at departmental level before the island became a collectivité.

Municipal councillor

From 2001 he served as a municipal councillor with Louis-Constant Fleming's group, according to the lycée and SMN News, which gives his term as 2001 to 2007.

A school in his name

Robert Weinum died in November 2011. SMN News and France-Antilles both reported his death. In July 2016, the Cité Scolaire Robert Weinum in La Savane was inaugurated, as Le Pélican and Faxinfo reported at the time. Each school day, students on the French side now walk through doors that carry the name of a teacher and councillor from Grand-Case.

Sources

  • https://robertweinum.lyc.ac-guadeloupe.fr/qui-etait-robert-weinum/
  • https://www.faxinfo.fr/hommage-a-robert-weinum/
  • http://smn-news.com/st-maarten-st-martin-news/8641-former-general-and-municipal-councilor-passes-away.html
  • https://www.guadeloupe.franceantilles.fr/divers/deces-de-robert-weinum-471015.php
  • https://www.lepelican-journal.com/La-cite-scolaire-Robert-Weinum-inauguree/
  • https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grand_Case_Bay,_Saint_Martin,French_West_Indies-_panoramio.jpg

Source: https://robertweinum.lyc.ac-guadeloupe.fr/qui-etait-robert-weinum/

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