Sylvius Gerard Marie "Boy" Rozendal (4 July 1928 – 10 June 2003) was an Curaçao politician and journalist. He served as

Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles Below is a list of prime ministers of the Netherlands Antilles from 1951 to 2010. In 2010 the position of Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles was abolished, together with the dissolution of the country itself. List of prime ministers of ...

from 1971 until 1975, Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister from 1969 until 1971, and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Netherlands Antilles from 1971 until 1975.

Biography

Rozendal was born on 4 July 1928 in Curaçao. After graduating high school, he went to the Netherlands to study at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

, and in 1957, obtained his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in political and social sciences at the

Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, or the Geneva Graduate Institute (french: Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement), abbreviated IHEID, is a government-accredited postgraduate institution ...

Genève , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, Switzerland. Rozendal returned to Curaçao and in 1958 joined the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. In 1959, he was first elected to the island council of Curaçao. In 1966, he was first elected to the

Estates of the Netherlands Antilles The Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles (; ), also translated as the Estates of the Netherlands Antilles, was the parliament of the Netherlands Antilles. It comprised 22 members, elected for a four-year term in three multi-seat constituencies ...

. The

1969 Curaçao uprising The 1969 Curaçao uprising (known as ''Trinta di Mei'', "Thirtieth of May", in Papiamentu, the local language) was a series of riots on the Caribbean island of Curaçao, then part of the Netherlands Antilles, a semi-independent country in the ...

resulted in a collapse of the government. On 12 December 1969, Rozendal was appointed Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister. On 12 February 1971, he was appointed

Minister Plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

. and served until 1 December 1975. In 1973, he became chairperson of the Democratic Party. A major issue for the 1977 elections was the ''

status aparte ''Status aparte'' refers to the special status of Aruba between 1986 and 2010 as a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, separate from the Netherlands Antilles to which it belonged until 1986. With the dissolution of the Net ...

'' for Aruba which would make the island a constituent country within the

Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...

, and no longer subordinate to Curaçao. The Democratic Party was opposed to a special status, and won a clear victory in the elections. On 14 October 1977, Rozendal became

. His tenure was marred by demonstrations and riots in Aruba organised by

Betico Croes Gilberto François "Betico" Croes (; 25 January 1938 – 26 November 1986) was an Aruban political activist who was a proponent for Aruba's separation from the Netherlands Antilles. This eventually occurred in 1986, but following a car accident ...

. Rozendal turned in his resignation effective 6 July 1979. On 1 January 1986, Aruba became a constituent country. Rozendal retired from politics and became an editor and a journalist. He would return to the Estates between 1990 and 1994. On 10 June 2003, Rozendal died in

Willemstad Willemstad ( , ; ; en, William Town, italic=yes) is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the capital of the Netherlands Antilles pr ...

, Curaçao at the age of 74.

Honours and legacy

* Knight of the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...

* Commander of the

Order of the Liberator The Order of the Liberator was the highest distinction of Venezuela and was appointed for services to the country, outstanding merit and benefits made to the community. For Venezuelans the order ranks first in the order of precedence from other or ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rozendal, Boy 1928 births 2003 deaths Prime Ministers of the Netherlands Antilles Government ministers of the Netherlands Antilles Ministers plenipotentiary (Netherlands Antilles) Curaçao politicians Curaçao journalists Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion University of Amsterdam alumni Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni

Biography

Honours and legacy

See also

References