Guy Morel

Guy Morel (1933 in Seychelles - 9 November 2006) was a Seychellois accountant, economist and businessman. Morel was an influential figure in the Seychelles Government of the 1970s and 1980s when he was the Principal Secretary of Finance, the Governor of the Seychelles Central Bank and Chairman of Air Seychelles. He is also the founder of the Seychelles Institute of Management. Morel was also an advocate of education for the poor, especially school dropouts. and is currently running a tutorial college. He was also a prolific writer and lover of the English language and in his retirement wrote a series of books on English grammar.

Anecdotes

• A story recounted to this author by the gentleman in question shows his good natured sense of humour. While he was Governor or the Seychelles Central Bank he was on a visit to Singapore. At that time his signature was on the Seychelles rupee notes. He was asked for further proof of his signature for a credit card transaction and not having his passport with him he pulled out a sheaf of Rupee notes of different denominations all with his signature on and asked "will this be sufficient proof".

• He was an everyman. Very much the Indian-Creole French - British Gentleman at home with presidents and dignitaries on one day and on the next day while eating at a restaurant with this editor happily able to drink and socialise with a group of visiting US Navy matelots and get invited onboard ship by the chief of the boat the next day.

• Soon after graduating as a chartered accountant, he returned to the Seychelles, but as a young man he told me he wished for wider horizons initially. With a UK qualification in his hand and postwar a vestigial British Empire remained - he simply looked around the Commonwealth at where he might work and ended up in Sandakan - then the capital of British North Borneo. He worked there several years just prior to their independence before returning home to his native Seychelles.

References

• Seychelles Weekly 10 November 2006