Johan Friedrich Egbert "Jo" Einaar (1 January 1896 – 20 October 1977) was 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 ...

se teacher and diplomat. He was an anthropology professor at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

in Washington DC, Dutch

Consul General A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

in New York City, and served as

Minister Plenipotentiary of Suriname The Minister Plenipotentiary of Suriname ( nl, Gevolmachtigde Minister van Suriname) represented the constituent country of Suriname in the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has existed from 1954 until the Independence of S ...

from 18 November 1965 until 1 July 1968.

Biography

Einaar 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 1 January 1896. After finishing high school, he became a teacher. In 1919, he left for the Netherlands, and studied at a trade school in Amsterdam while working for an insurance company. In 1927, he studied history at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

, and 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 ''l ...

in 1935 on a thesis about the British rule of Surinam between 1804 and 1816. Einaar returned to Suriname before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1939, he was elected to the Colonial

Estates of Suriname The National Assembly (''De Nationale Assemblée'', ''The Assembly'', commonly abbreviated "DNA") is the Parliament, representing the legislative branch of government in Suriname. It is a unicameral legislature. The assembly has been situated in ...

. In 1945, Einaar left for the United States to perform anthropological research for the

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. The same year, he became professor Anthropology at

in Washington DC. Einaar was the first Surinamese person to become a member of the Dutch diplomatic service, and in 1949, was appointed Consul for Suriname in New York City. Later, he became Consul General for the Netherlands in New York City. In 1960, Einaar retired, and became Director of the Cabinet of the Minister Plenipotentiary of Suriname in The Hague on 1 February 1961. On 18 November 1965, Einaar was appointed

, and had been acting minister since 1 January. The Minister Plenipotentiary represented Suriname in the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

, and is allowed to address the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

Princess Beatrix Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husban ...

announced her engagement to

Prince Claus Prince Claus of the Netherlands, Jonkheer van Amsberg (born Klaus-Georg Wilhelm Otto Friedrich Gerd von Amsberg; 6 September 1926 – 6 October 2002) was Prince consort of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until his death in 2002 as the husband ...

. On 10 November, the

States General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States ...

had to approve the marriage and the

naturalisation Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

of Prince Claus. The televised and heated debate focused on Claus' past in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

even though he had seen no combat. During the debate, Einaar took the microphone, and delivered a passionate plea to allow the marriage of two people who love each other. The marriage was approved with 132 votes in favour and 9 against. Einaar later received his first fan mail. He served until 1 July 1968, and became President Curator of the University of Suriname. Einaar died on 21 October 1977 in

Beneden-Leeuwen Beneden-Leeuwen is a town in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of West Maas en Waal, and lies about 7 km east of Tiel, on the opposite (southern) bank of the river Waal. Beneden-Leeuwen has 6,925 inhabitants o ...

, Netherlands, at the age of 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Einaar, Jo 1896 births 1977 deaths Dutch diplomats Surinamese academics Ministers plenipotentiary (Suriname) Leiden University alumni Surinamese anthropologists Members of the National Assembly (Suriname) Howard University faculty People from Paramaribo Surinamese expatriates in the United States