“He was a thinker who felt the call to march to the beat of a different drum.”

Reading the Obituary to her uncle Pauulu yesterday, Donna Williams evoked a man driven by a sense of purpose that rose above the constraints of politics and geography. “He was comfortable anywhere on the planet. The world was his home and he wanted it to be ours,” she said.

The death of Dr. Pauulu Kamarakafego on April 3 was yesterday commemorated at the Berkeley Institute with words, music and song. Despite the sadness and tears, speakers raised a smile with their fond memories of Dr. Kamarakafego.

Friend Vejay Steede described his “only weakness” as “a soft spot for mango juice” while Ms Williams said no one could forget the “three-day parties” her “fun-loving” uncle held.

Dr. Kamarakafego was born on November 28, 1932, to John and Henrietta Brown and was the fourth of six siblings.

He attended Skinner School (now Howard Academy) and New York University, South Carolina State University and California Institute of Technology.

In Bermuda, he led the struggle for universal adult suffrage in the 1960s and then devoted himself to politics, becoming an MP for the Progressive Labour Party from 1968-1972.

He organised the second International Black Power Conference, held in Bermuda in 1969, and in 1974 organised the Sixth Pan-African Congress in Tanzania — the first to be held on the continent. He was also official representative of the Pan-African Movement at the United Nations. Dr. Kamarakafego leaves 13 children and a brother and sister, Egbert (Eggs) Brown and Irene (Renee) Maybury.

His children will carry their father’s name in countries as diverse as Liberia, Zanzibar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Vanuatu, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Canada.

From Monday members of the public can sign a Book of Condolence at the PLP headquarters at Alaska Hall, Court Street.

Dr. Kamarakafego’s ashes will be scattered over the seas of Bermuda or the continent of Africa, according to his wishes. Dennis Watson, chairman of the New York-based National Taskforce on Black Male Violence, Gangs and Achievement, told The Royal Gazette Dr Kamarakafego was “the Nelson Mandela of the Caribbean”.

His work however, went beyond politics. As an ecological engineer he developed ideas for affordable durable housing and renewable solar, biomass and mini-hydro energy. Specialising in rural technology, he helped to improve the quality of life of thousands of people in small island nations and developing countries around the world.

Among the responsibilities he held at the UN, Dr. Kamarakafego was International Coordinator of the International Network of Small Island Developing States of NGOs and Indigenous People, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Caribbean, Atlantic/Mediterranean, Arctic Regions and the Diaspora.

Premier Dr. Ewart Brown said yesterday: “It is one thing to distinguish one-self in a land of 21 square miles and 63,000 people, but to so engulf the community of nations with one’s expertise and conscience is a feat of epic proportions.

“Pauulu’s stature was universal in its appeal and local in its devotion. We owe him such a debt of gratitude that can only be fulfilled by keeping his legacy alive. This we shall do.”

Velda Dhanoolal, a UN representative for the Pan-African Movement and the Southern Caucus of NGOs for Sustainable Development, read out tributes at the ceremony from around the world. They included messages from Mauritius, Vanuatu in the South Pacific, Guyana, Paraguay, Honduras and Trinidad.

She compared Dr. Kamarakafego to Marcus Garvey, and said: “He was a remarkable man who led a very remarkable life and will be long remembered as one who brought light into some of the most isolated places in the world.”