Willem Frederik "Wim" van Eer (19 December 1927 – 2 July 2011) was a Surinamese diplomat and educator. He served as Minister Plenipotentiary of Suriname from 1 April 1974 until the

Independence of Suriname The early history of Suriname dates from 3000 BCE when Native Americans first inhabited the area. The Dutch acquired Suriname from the English, and European settlement in any numbers dates from the 17th century, when it was a plantation colony ...

on 25 November 1975. Subsequently, he was appointed first Ambassador of Suriname to the Netherlands and served until 20 May 1980.

Biography

Van Eer was born on 19 December 1927 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 ...

. He studied

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...

at the Nuts Academy in Rotterdam, and subsequently at the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

. Van Eer was one of the founders of the Surinamese in Rotterdam Foundation. In 1964, he returned to Suriname and became the principal of the ''kweekschool'' (

normal school A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...

) in Paramaribo. He became a member of the

National Party of Suriname The National Party of Suriname ( nl, Nationale Partij Suriname, NPS) is a social democratic political party in Suriname, founded in 1946, and since June 2012 led by Gregory Rusland. For a long time it was the largest ruling party in the country, ...

Henck Arron Henck Alphonsus Eugène Arron (25 April 1936 – 4 December 2000) was the first Prime Minister of Suriname after it gained independence in 1975. A member of the National Party of Suriname, he served from 24 December 1973 with the transition gover ...

appointed van Eer as Minister Plenipotentiary of Suriname on 1 April 1974. He played an important role in the negotiations for

. On 25 November 1975, his function became obsolete, and he was appointed as first Ambassador of Suriname to the Netherlands. On 25 February 1980, Desi Bouterse committed a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

On 11 March, van Eer returned to Suriname to negotiate with the new regime. He was honourably discharged effective 20 May 1980, and reassigned to the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

. On 24 December,

Hans Prade Hans Orlando Prade (23 July 1938 – 3 April 2020) was a Surinamese diplomat and politician. After graduating from Leiden University, Prade returned to Suriname, and founded the short lived Nationale Volkspartij together with Ronald Venetiaa ...

was appointed as his successor. Van Eer died on 2 July 2011 in Paramaribo, at the age of 83.

Honours

* Commander of the Honorary Order of the Palm.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eer, Wim van 1927 births 2011 deaths People from Paramaribo Ambassadors of Suriname to the Netherlands Government ministers of Suriname Surinamese educators Utrecht University alumni Ministers plenipotentiary (Suriname)