Hein Eersel

Eersel was born in Paramaribo on 9 June 1922.[1] He passed the assistant teacher certification exam in 1942,[3] and the head teacher certification exam in 1949.[4] In 1950, he traveled to the Netherlands, where he studied Dutch language and literature at the University of Amsterdam.[5] He completed his candidate diploma in 1956,[6] then a doctorandus.[1] While in Amsterdam, he joined the organisation Wie Eegie Sanie (Our Own Things), founded by Surinamese students to promote the Sranan Tongo language and Surinamese culture.[7]

Eersel married Florence Louise "Floor" Beck,[8] and they had two daughters: Marthelise and Rachel.[9][10]

Eersel returned to Suriname in 1959, and began teaching at the Suriname Kweekschool (Teacher Training College).[11] He later helped to establish the Institute for Teacher Training in Paramaribo.[12] He was director of the Taalbureau and the Bureau Volkslectuur (Public Literacy Bureau) from 1960 to 1969.[13]

In 1968, he became the first chancellor of the University of Suriname, and was also a lecturer in linguistics until his retirement in 1988.[13] He worked with Max Sordam to publish a full dictionary of Sranan Tongo in 1985.[14]

Eersel remained active with NAKS as of 2020, leading the Sranan Grammar Group.[15]

Eersel edited Johanna Schouten-Elsenhout's first published poetry book, Tide ete (1963).[16]

Eersel wrote a stage adaptation of Beaumarchais' The Barber of Seville, which opened at the Thalia Theatre in Paramaribo in 1960. While Noni Lichtveld's costumes and staging kept the original setting in 18th-century Spain, Eersel adapted some of the jokes and figures of speech for the local audience. A newspaper review noted that Eersel "put a few genuine Surinamese expressions in the mouth of our barber".[17]

The Nijmegen Institute for Missiology published a festschrift for Eersel's 80th birthday.[18] He had previously researched the history of Bible translations into Sranan Tongo.[19]

Eersel received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Suriname in 2003. He also received the Gazon Matodya Award in 2009.[2] In 2013, he was made a Grand Officer of the Honorary Order of the Palm.[20]

At the suggestion of the Henri Frans de Ziel Foundation, the Gemenelandsweg street in Paramaribo was renamed in Eersel's honour after a 2019 extension.[21]