Herman Daniël Benjamins (25 February 1850 – 25 January 1933), was a Surinamese educator, editor and writer. He is best known as the founding editor of '' De West-Indische Gids'', and editor of the ''Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch West-Indië'' (1914-1917).

Biography

Herman Daniël Benjamins 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 ...

on 25 February 1850. Benjamins went to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

to study mathematics and physics at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

. He received 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 ''l ...

on 2 July 1875, and returned to Suriname. In 1877, Benjamins was appointed as the principal of a high school. The school opened on 15 November 1877, but closed again in March 1878 due to lack of students. On 1 June 1878, Benjamins was appointed Inspector of Education, and served in this capacity until 1910. In 1882, the Geneeskundige School, a non-academic medical school, was founded and Benjamins was among the first teachers. During the first nine years, he doubles the number of students and teachers in Suriname. Benjamins propagated the use of

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

over

Sranan Tongo Sranan Tongo (also Sranantongo "Surinamese tongue," Sranan, Surinaams, Surinamese, Surinamese Creole) is an English-based creole language that is spoken as a ''lingua franca'' by approximately 550,000 people in Suriname. Developed originally amo ...

, the English-based Creole spoken throughout the colony. In 1893, he was awarded as Knight in 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 ...

. In 1910, he asked for retirement, and retired to the Netherlands. In 1914, Benjamins and Johannes Snelleman embarked on an

encyclopaedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

about the Dutch West-Indies. On 27 February 1917, the ''Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch West-Indië'' was published. In 2008, the

Digital Library for Dutch Literature The Digital Library for Dutch Literature (Dutch: Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren or DBNL) is a website (showing the abbreviation as dbnl) about Dutch language and Dutch literature. It contains thousands of literary texts, second ...

compiled the

Canon of Dutch Literature Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

, a list of 1,000 culturally important publications which includes the ''Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch West-Indië''. In 1919, Benjamins founded '' De West-Indische Gids'', a magazine with topics about Suriname and the

Netherlands Antilles nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom" , national_anthem = , common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento , demonym = Netherlands Antillean , capital = Willemstad , year_start = 1954 , year_end = 2010 , date_start = 15 December , ...

. In 2012, the magazine was acquired by

Brill Publishers Brill Academic Publishers (known as E. J. Brill, Koninklijke Brill, Brill ()) is a Dutch international academic publisher founded in 1683 in Leiden, Netherlands. With offices in Leiden, Boston, Paderborn and Singapore, Brill today publishes 27 ...

and is nowadays known as ''New West Indian Guide''. In 1898, Benjamins first started to write about the

border dispute A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the possession of natural resources su ...

between Suriname and

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

. He extensively used his magazine to resolve the issue. Benjamins was also fascinated by

Aphra Behn Aphra Behn (; bapt. 14 December 1640 – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright, poet, prose writer and translator from the Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural barrie ...

, and often wrote about her. In the translation of ''

Oroonoko ''Oroonoko: or, the Royal Slave'' is a work of prose fiction by Aphra Behn (1640–1689), published in 1688 by William Canning and reissued with two other fictions later that year. It was also adapted into a play. The eponymous hero is an Afri ...

'', Benjamins added a foreword casting doubt whether Behn had actually lived in Suriname, or whether the story is fictitious. Benjamins died 25 January 1933 in

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 ...

at the age of 82.

Legacy

On 25 February 1930, the Westerschool was renamed Dr H.D. Benjaminsschool. The H.D. Benjaminsstraat in Paramaribo has named in his honour.

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Herman Daniël Benjamins at Digital Library for Dutch Literature
(in Dutch)
(New) West Indian Guide at University of Florida Digital Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benjamins, Herman 1850 births 1933 deaths Dutch magazine editors Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion People from Paramaribo Surinamese educators Surinamese male writers Leiden University alumni