Elsa Goveia, an eminent Caribbean Historian, was born in British Guiana in 1925 where she attended St. Joseph High School. She became the first female to win the British Guiana scholarship in 1944. She entered the University College, London and obtained first class honours in 1948, and immediately enrolled in the PhD programme, with a thesis “Slave Society in the British Leeward Islands: 1718 to 1800 which she completed in 1952. She joined the History Department at Mona in 1950, was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1958 and the first female Professor in 1961. She was one of the leading Caribbean Historian between 1952 and 1980 as she set high standards for research, and played a pivotal role in the teaching of Caribbean History in the Region.
Before her death in March 1980, she left us two significant scholarships – A study of the Historiography of the British West Indies 1956; and Slave Societies in the British Leeward Islands at the end of the 18^th Century, which was published in 1965.
Five years after her death, the History Departments at the Mona and Cave Hill Campuses, established this Lecture Series in her honour. Additionally, a prestigious scholarship for post-graduate students was established, as well as an Elsa Goveia Book Prize, awarded by the Association of Caribbean Historians.

The 34th Elsa Goveia Memorial Lecture was held in October 2019. The Lecture was delivered by Professor Brian Meekes on the Grenada Revolution.