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 1975, before becoming the first president upon independence from the Netherlands in 1975. He was named the twentieth century's most important politician in Suriname in 1999.

Early life

Ferrier was born in 1910 in Suriname's largest city and capital,

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 po ...

. He trained as a teacher. In 1946 he assisted in the establishment of the country's National Party, while Suriname was a colony of the Netherlands.

Scouting

Ferrier was co-founder of the ''

Boy Scouts van Suriname Boy Scouts van Suriname is the national Scouting organization of Suriname. Scouting in Suriname officially started in 1924 and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) in 1968. The coeducational association has 2,601 m ...

'' and its first Chief Scout. At age 16 he was a teacher in the

Saramacca District Saramacca is a district of Suriname, in the north. Saramacca's capital city is Groningen, with other towns and cities including Batavia, Kampong Baroe, Uitkijk, Maho and Boskamp. Saramacca has a population of 17,480 and an area of 3,636 k ...

and founded his first Scout Group. This group still exists and now bears the name "''De Johan Ferrier groep, de groep 2 Oranje Dassers''".

Politics

In 1946, Ferrier was one of the founding members of the National Party of Suriname. Ferrier was a member of the National Council from 1946 until 1948. He then went to Amsterdam in the Netherlands to learn education theory. In 1950, he received his doctorate. When he went back to Suriname, which had by then become an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, he continued to study and to have a career in education. He served as both prime minister and interior minister for a three-year period from 1955 until 1958. He also spent time as Suriname's head of education. From 1968 until 1975 he retained the post of governor. On 25 November 1975, Suriname was made independent, and Ferrier was sworn in as the first

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the country.

Dési Bouterse Desiré Delano "Dési" Bouterse (; born 13 October 1945) is a Surinamese military officer, politician, convicted murderer and drug trafficker who served as President of Suriname from 2010 to 2020. From 1980 to 1987, he was Suriname's ''de facto ...

's 1980 coup d'état prompted Ferrier to resign within six months. Prime Minister Henk Chin A Sen succeeded Ferrier as president. Ferrier was made a Grand Cordon in the Honorary Order of the Yellow Star by Chin A Sen on 3 September 1980. His wife was also made a Grand Officer in the Honorary Order of the Palm.

Later life

Ferrier then accompanied his relatives to live in the Netherlands. He lived with them in

Oegstgeest Oegstgeest () is a town and municipality in the province of South Holland in the western Netherlands. Its population was in . Etymology The portion ''geest'' in the name refers to the geest lands, which were excavated in the seventeenth cen ...

. Ferrier used to tell stories about the spider

Anansi Anansi ( ; literally translates to ''spider'') is an Akan folktale character and the Akan God of Stories, Wisdom, Knowledge, and possibly creation. The form of a spider is the most common depiction of Anansi. He is also, sometimes considered t ...

on Dutch children's television. In 1986, ''Het Grote Anansi Boek'', a

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

was released with illustrations by Noni Lichtveld. The original release was

monochrome A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, monochro ...

. In 2010, it was re-released in colour. His daughter,

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 ...

, is a former member of the

House of Representatives of the Netherlands The House of Representatives (, pronounced ; commonly referred to as the ', literally "Second Chamber of the States General") is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of the Netherlands, the States General, the other one being the Senate ...

for the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary ...

. In 2005, Ferrier's memoirs ''Last Governor, First President: The Century of Johan Ferrier, Surinamese'' were published. The Dutch Queen gave him a knighthood. An obituary in the national morning daily '' De Volkskrant'' said he had claimed: "Even in the darkest days, I kept my optimism".

Death

Ferrier died from heart failure while sleeping at home in Oegstgeest at the age of 99, four months before his 100th birthday. His body was found in the early morning on 4 January 2010.

Queen 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 husba ...

of the Netherlands paid tribute. Prime Minister

Jan Peter Balkenende Jan Pieter "Jan Peter" Balkenende Jr. (; born 7 May 1956) is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 July 2002 to 14 October 2010. Balkenende studied ...

said Ferrier was "an authoritative and wise statesman". Politician and diplomat Jan Pronk paid tribute to his work at uniting divisions. Ferrier was buried on 11 January 2010, in the Dutch town of

, where he had been living since 1980.

Johan Ferrier Fund

On 12 May 2010, the day Ferrier would have celebrated his 100th birthday, th
Johan Ferrier Fund
was officially launched. The fund strives to follow in his footsteps in supporting Surinamese projects with educational and cultural goals. The Johan Ferrier Fund is an initiative of his daughter

Joan Ferrier Joan Mary Ferrier (14 December 1953 – 8 March 2014) was a Dutch ortho pedagogue of Surinamese descent. From 1998 until 2012 she was director of E-Quality. Biography Ferrier was born as the daughter of Johan Ferrier, the first President of S ...

, who first presented the fund in the presence of her father in September 2009.

References

External links

*
Official website of the Johan Ferrier Fonds
*
Official Parliamentary Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrier, Johan 1910 births 2010 deaths Governors of Suriname National Party of Suriname politicians People from Oegstgeest People from Paramaribo Presidents of Suriname Prime Ministers of Suriname Scouting and Guiding in Suriname Surinamese Calvinist and Reformed Christians Surinamese educators Surinamese expatriates in the Netherlands Surinamese children's writers Grand Cordons of the Honorary Order of the Yellow Star Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau University of Amsterdam alumni Surinamese independence activists Burials in South Holland