Cynthia Henri McLeod (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Ferrier; born 4 October 1936) is a

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

known for her historic novels and whose

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

instantly made her one of the most prominent authors of Suriname.

Background

McLeod was born in

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's ...

as Cynthia Ferrier; she is the daughter of

Johan Ferrier Johan Henri Eliza Ferrier (12 May 1910 – 4 January 2010) was a Surinamese politician who served as the 1st president of Suriname from 1975 to 1980. He was also the country's last governor-general before independence, serving from 1968 to 197 ...

, the first

President of Suriname The president of the Republic of Suriname ( nl, President van de Republiek Suriname) is, in accordance with the Constitution of 1987, the head of state and head of government of Suriname, and commander-in-chief of the Suriname National Army (S ...

. She is the half-sister of Dutch politician

Kathleen Ferrier Kathleen Mary Ferrier, CBE (22 April 19128 October 1953) was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the cl ...

. McLeod completed her secondary school

education in Suriname The education in Suriname was initially set up in analogy to the Dutch education system. In terms of structure, the education system is now a mixture of school types that were common in the Netherlands before, during and after the Mammoetwet. The la ...

and continued her education in the Netherlands, where she studied to become a teacher in Child Care and Education. She married Dr. Donald McLeod whom she met in the Netherlands. As a teacher, she participated in a project for education renewal, and wrote a number of stories for children which were published in the series ''Van Hier en daar en Overal''. In 1962 they went to

, where McLeod studied for a teaching degree in Dutch language and

Dutch literature Dutch language literature () comprises all writings of literary merit written through the ages in the Dutch language, a language which currently has around 23 million native speakers. Dutch-language literature is the product of the Netherlands, Be ...

. From 1969 to 1978 she taught Dutch language and literature in pre-university education in Paramaribo. Her husband, Donald McLeod, was appointed in 1978 as Suriname’s Ambassador to

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. He later became Suriname’s ambassador to Belgium and the United States. Abroad, McLeod started writing; during her stay in Belgium she had the opportunity to do research in the archives of

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

Emmerich Emmerich may refer to: Places * Emmerich am Rhein, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany ** Emmerich Rhine Bridge ** Emmerich station * Emmerich, Wisconsin, unincorporated community in the town of Berlin, Wisconsin, United States Other uses * ...

, and

Köln Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...

. In 1986 the McLeods returned to Suriname and in 1987 her debut novel ''Hoe duur was de suiker?'' (The Cost of Sugar) was published by publisher Vaco in Paramaribo. The first print was sold out within a few weeks and Cynthia McLeod became the most famous Surinamese novelist overnight. Later this historical novel about the

sugar cane industry Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...

in the 18th century was published under license by her Dutch publisher

Conserve Conserve may refer to: * Conserve (condiment), a preserve made from a mixture of fruits or vegetables * Conserve (NGO), an Indian environmental organization * Conserve (publisher), a Dutch publisher * Conserved sequence, a protein or nucleic aci ...

. The novel was later turned into a movie with the same name, and broadcast as a mini series by VARA Television. Soon other historical novels from her hand appeared, such as ''Herinneringen aan Mariënburg''. McLeod also wrote books for children. The most important are ''Lafu'' (1992) and ''Toen het vakantie was'' (1999).

Elisabeth Samson

McLeod studied the life of

Elisabeth Samson Elisabeth Samson (17151771) was an Afro-Surinamese coffee plantation owner. She was born in 1715 in Paramaribo to a freed slave, known as Mariana. All of her other siblings had been born as slaves and were emancipated by her half-brother Charlo ...

for over eleven years. Samson was a free black woman whose name occurs prominently in historical works on Suriname because she wanted to marry a white man (which was forbidden in the colony Suriname during the first half of the 18th century). The results of this research were first published as a study by the Faculty of Cultural Anthropology of the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

. For eight years subsequently McLeod studied the social structure and life of that period, which allowed her to position Elisabeth as a rich free black person in this society dominated by prejudices and white supremacy. She then wrote the novel ''The Free Negress Elisabeth''. McLeod considered the dilapidated state of the Elisabeth Samson House shameful, and established the Elisabeth Samson Foundation in order to restore the building to its original condition. The building was bought by the Elisabeth Samson Foundation on 19 January 2021. It will be restored to its original form. After the restoration, the building will be turned into the Elisabeth Samson Museum.

Other activities

As a result of her research McLeod has gained a wealth of knowledge about Surinamese history, knowledge she gladly shares with others. She organizes free educational trips for Surinamese school youth with her motorized vessel, the ''Sweet Merodia''. During these tours on Surinamese rivers, past former plantations, she captivates her audiences with stories about its interesting past. She further engages in historic city tours through the centre of historic Paramaribo, which has been a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site since 2002.

Bibliography

References

Brother Mambo: Finding Africa in the Amazon, JD Lenoir with Phil Ceder (Kutukutu). Black Rose Writers, 2022.

External links