C.L.R. James, in full Cyril Lionel Robert James (born Jan. 4, 1901, Tunapuna, Trinidad-died May 31, 1989, London, Eng.), West Indian-born cultural historian, cricket writer, and political activist who was a leading figure in the Pan-African movement.
James was certified as a teacher at Queen's Royal College in Port of Spain, Trinidad (1918). In 1932 he moved to England, where he published The Life of Captain Cipriani (1932; revised as The Case for West-Indian Self-Government, 1933) with the personal and financial support of the West Indian cricketer and politician Learie (later Lord) Constantine. During the 1930s James was a cricket correspondent for The Guardian