Leonardus Josephus "Jozef" Weidmann (3 October 1899 – 15 September 1962) was a Dutch-Surinamese Catholic priest, politician and union leader. He is one of the founders of the

Progressive Surinamese People's Party The Progressive Surinamese People's Party ( nl, Progressieve Surinaamse Volkspartij, PSV) was a political party in Suriname. The party was a member of the Christian Democrat Organization of America. The party was founded in August 1946 by, among ...

(PSV). Weidmann played a leading role in establishing

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stan ...

in Suriname, and was the founder of , the oldest recognised trade union in Suriname.

Biography

Weidmann was born on 3 October 1899 in

Kerkrade Kerkrade ( Ripuarian: ; li, Kirkraoj; german: Kerkrade or ''Kirchrath'') is a town and a municipality in the southeast of Limburg; the southernmost province of the Netherlands. It forms part of the Parkstad Limburg agglomeration. Kerkrade is the ...

, Netherlands. In 1925, he was ordained priest of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. In 1928, he was sent to Suriname as a missionary, and worked in the interior among the

Maroons Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas who escaped from slavery and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into separate creole cultures such as the Garifuna and the Mascogos. ...

and

Amerindian The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...

s. Later, he became a priest 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' ...

. On 7 December 1942,

Wilhelmina of the Netherlands Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World Wa ...

made a radio speech promising autonomy for the colonies. Weidmann decided to become politically active, and asked the Vatican permission to relieve him, and venture into politics. In August 1946, Weidmann was one of the founders of the

(PSV), a Christian democratic party. He started to emphasise

, because he was of the opinion that democracy was not possible without universal suffrage first. On 16 February 1948, Weidmann founded the (PWO), the oldest recognised trade union in Suriname, and served as its chairperson. On 7 March 1948, he organised a demonstration for universal suffrage which was attended by more than 20,000 people. On 28 January 1948, , a member of the PSV, attended the First Round Table Conference in The Hague on behalf of Suriname, In July 1948, the States General of the Netherlands voted to extend universal suffrage to Suriname. On 30 May 1949, the first general election was held, however the PSV failed to gain any seats. Weidmann died on 15 September 1962 at the age of 62.

Legacy

After his death, the Father Weidmann Foundation, was established. The foundation was chaired by

Emile Wijntuin Emile Linus Alfred Wijntuin (22 September 1924 – 7 May 2020) was a Surinamese politician who served as Chairman of the National Assembly of Suriname from 1975 until the aftermath of the 1980 Surinamese coup d'état. Wijntuin was a member of t ...

and operates a home for stray children. On 1 April 1975, Weidmann was honoured with a statue created by . The statue is located near the offices of the PWO, and a street in Rainville was named after Father Weidmann. In 1996, Wijntuin published ''Weidmann, grondlegger van het algemeen kiesrecht in Suriname'', a biography about Weidmann and the struggle for universal suffrage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weidmann, Jozef 1899 births 1962 deaths Dutch Roman Catholic missionaries 20th-century Dutch Roman Catholic priests People from Kerkrade Surinamese clergy Surinamese politicians Surinamese trade unionists