The Tjin A Djie family is a family from the country of

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 ...

. It is one of the earliest

Chinese Surinamese Chinese Surinamese people are Surinamese residents of ethnic Chinese origin. The earliest migrants came in the 19th century as indentured laborers; there was another wave of migration in the 1950s and 1960s. There were 7,885 Chinese in Suriname a ...

families, having arrived in Suriname in 1866. The descendants are known for their role as entrepreneurs and sporters. The family has been active at

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s for rice and vegetables.b p.289, c p.34, d p.289, e p.57&107, f p.57&107&108, g p.107&108, h p.105, i p.108, j p. 64, k p.182, L p.118, m, n p. 179, o p.180, p p.276 Zijlmans G.C. and Enser H.A. (2002). De chinezen in suriname. Barendrecht,

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 ...

: Batavia Publishing. Retrieved from http://www.bataviabooks.com/Chinezen.htm In the 20th and 21th descendants have been active in

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

. In the 2010s The annual Opa Leo Tjin A Djie Tennis Tournament is being sponsored by them. Branches of the family today can be found predominantly in Suriname, with members residing in North America and Europe, such as in the

. Their ancestor's full name was Tjin A Djie, but the root and base surname is Tjin.

History

Joseph Tjin A Djie (1835-1903)

Upon a family reunification program,Van Der Plas, A. (2000). Protective wraps. In K. Tjin A Djie (Ed.), Parenthood in a We-System (15 ed., Vol. 1, pp. 17-39). p.5. Retrieved from http://www.beschermjassen.nl/new/artikelen/Protective%20wraps.pdf Joseph Tjin A Djie (born 1835-1903) moved from

Kwangtung Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) a ...

, China, to Suriname on the ship ''Whirlwind''. He arrived in Suriname in 1866. In Suriname he began the development of a plantation that grew

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

and various

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

s. On 15 March 1876 He obtained a license to begin opening grocery stores on a plantation in Mon Trésor. He married a Chinese woman and they had two sons named Eduard (Kon-Fat) (1871-1930), and Rudolf (A-Djie) (1880-1962).

Eduard Alphons Tjin-Kon-Fat (1871-1930)

Eduard Alphons Tjin Kon Fat was a businessman who became wealthy through various proprietorships, retail and trade. He married Louise Nielo, the daughter of a wealthy business family. Together they started their business, known as Tjin Kon Fat - Nielo & Co. In 1899 a fire destroyed their business on

Waterkant The Waterkant is the oldest and one of the most important streets of Paramaribo, Suriname. The street is located in the historic centre on the Suriname River, and was the location where ships used to arrive. The street starts at the Onafhankeli ...

, but they were able to restart it again, using the Nielo family store at the Saramaccastraat. He later left his wife and her family in bankruptcy. He predominantly was a plantation owner taking charge of at least three plantations: Oldenburg, Nieuw Meerzorg, and Monsort. His plantations grew rice, vegetables, coffee and coco. At the plantation Oldenburg his own rice peeling mills processed the raw materials into retail goods in which he sold in the supermarkets that he owned at Oldenburg, Nieuw Meerzorg, Waterkant, and Poelepantje. In his stores, he sold items like furniture and appliances, clothing, thread, needles, fabric, perfume, powder, cosmetics, cognac and wine, food and groceries, stationary, and cigars. He furthermore had a

match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

factory named “Vulcan” and a coffee restaurant named “Halikibe” , a pawnbroking firm, and a hardware store. Along with his store at Waterkant Tjin Kon Fat had an import and export company importing products from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, as well as an car renting establishment. In addition to his business activities, Tjin Kon Fat played an active role helping to develop communities. He was a board member for education and a board member for sports. Also he was a board member for radio stations, president of the Chinese association Moe Poen Sah, executive board member of the Green Cross, and was an alternate member of the Board of Appeal on the taxation of rental value utch: Huurwaardebelastingp.105 Zijlmans G.C. and Enser H.A. (2002).

Legacy

Eduard Tjin Kon Fat married and had a number of children. At least four are known. *H. Tjin Kon Fat (female) was the chairman of the Catholic Suriname soccer team, and treasurer for “Boys” tennis club. *J. Tjin Kon Fat (female) took part in collecting for the church. *Estelle Tjin Kon Fat (female) *Edy Tjin Kon Fat (female) (-2011). Edy became a judge, law professor and entrepreneur. The descendants of Eduard have the surname Tjin-Kon-Fat.

Rudolf J. Tjin A Djie (1880-1962)

Rudolf J. Tjin A Djie was a prosperous merchant and industrialist. Hij was born in Albina and met a young black woman. They had one child together, named Joseph (February 19, 1899 – 1988). He was an owner of gold mines near

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

and often went to the other side of the border for shopping purposes; there he met his wife, named Elisabeth Marie (Majotte) Tong Lee A Tai. She was of

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

ese descent and was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1883. Her family was wealthy and was established within the French culture scene. They married on 15 September 1904." Elisabeth had a fascination for fashion, craftsmanship, and artistry and had much influence on the family crest. In Suriname she established a millinery shop, creating and selling stylish hats. Although Rudolf spoke

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 ...

and Elisabeth spoke

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, they communicated with each other in the Surinamese

creole language A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable natural language that develops from the simplifying and mixing of different languages into a new one within a fairly brief period of time: often, a pidgin evolved into a full-fledged language. ...

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 ...

. In 1938 Rudolf Tjin A Djie also became the owner of the Hollandia bakery.

Legacy

Rudolf J. Tjin A Djie and Elisabeth Marie had nine children. They moved from Albina to

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 ...

when their children were young. #Eduard Leo Henri (October 15, 1905 – 1933) (Studying to be a doctor when died) #Henriette Magdalena Antoinette (February 14, 1907 – 1967) (Teacher) #Herman Rudolf Johan (November 6, 1910 – 1975) (Tennis champion,p.181 Zijlmans G.C. and Enser H.A. (2002). Vice President of Suriname Sports Committee, Founder of Tennis BOYS,p. 184 Stutgard W., R. (2011). Tennis. Ricky W. Stutgard, the first Surinamese sports encyclopedia (1893-1988). Alberga, Paramaribo, 1990, Retrieved from http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/stut004eers01_01/stut004eers01_01_0235.php Board member of the Suriname Tennis Association, Owner of

lumber mill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

companies, President of Suriname K.L.N Airline) #Leonard Ernest Theodoor (March 29, 1912 – 1999) (Tennis champion, Treasurer of Suriname Sports Committee, Well known golfer, Member and champion of the Curaçao Racing Club,Stutgard W., R. (2011). Leonard Tjin A Djie. Ricky W. Stutgard, the first Surinamese sports encyclopedia (1893-1988). Alberga, Paramaribo, 1990, Retrieved from http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/stut004eers01_01/stut004eers01_01_0237.php Rice plantation owner, Bakery owner,

proprietor Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different ...

) #Agnes Regina Marie (September 13, 1913 – 2000) (Head of Chinese Association, member of the Roman Catholic RK School Board, Teacher, played active role in politics.) #Angeline Fanny Josephine (August 11, 1915- June 18, 1926) (Died from

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

at sea-traveling to study- and was buried in the

Gulf of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

) #Arthur Jean Marie (February 11, 1917 – 1979) (President of Suriname Pan American Airlinep. 64 Zijlmans G.C. and Enser H.A. (2002). executive lumber factory) #Raymond Octave Maurits (May 18, 1919 – 1988) (Owner of chicken, pig, and vegetable farms, and a store) #Rudolf Percy Benjamin (October 30, 1920 – 1991) (Owner of two grocery stores)

Tjin A Djie and tennis

The Tjin A Djie family has made notable contributions to sports culture and industry in Suriname, specifically with

. The family produced three national champions in the sport. Herman Rudolf Johan and his brother Leonard Ernest Theodoor were national tennis champions between the years 1941-1957, with Herman’s second son becoming national champion in 1960.Stutgard W., R. (2011). Tennis. Ricky W. Stutgard, the first Surinamese sports encyclopedia (1893-1988). Alberga, Paramaribo, 1990, p.185 and 188. Retrieved from http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/stut004eers01_01/stut004eers01_01_0235.php

References

{{reflist Surinamese families