Moises Frumencio da Costa Gomez (27 October 1907 – 22 November 1966) was the president of the first Governing Council of the

Netherlands Antilles nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom" , national_anthem = , common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento , demonym = Netherlands Antillean , capital = Willemstad , year_start = 1954 , year_end = 2010 , date_start = 15 December , ...

and the first

Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles Below is a list of prime ministers of the Netherlands Antilles from 1951 to 2010. In 2010 the position of Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles was abolished, together with the dissolution of the country itself. List of prime ministers of ...

.Caribbean monthly bulletin: Volumes 7-9
1973

Biography

Da Costa Gomez was born on 27 October 1907 in Curaçao. At the age of 15, he was given a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

to the Netherlands. In 1932, he graduated his law studies at the

Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, nl, Radboud Universiteit , formerly ''Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen'') is a public research university located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The university bears the name of Saint Radboud, a 9th century D ...

. In 1935, he received 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 ...

at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

. Da Costa Gomez was like John Horris Sprockel a member of the Roman Catholic Party. He founded the National People's Party in the 1940s. Da Costa Gomez was president of the first Governing Council (Regeringsraad) at the head of a coalition government with the Aruban People's Party (AVP) from 1951 to 1954, and is often referred to as the first Prime Minister of the Netherlands Antilles. His party negotiated full autonomy at the 1954 Roundtable Conference, involving the

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 ...

and

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 ...

.Modern political culture in the Caribbean
by Holger Henke, Fred Reńo, page 386 Following the 1954 elections, the Democratic Party took over governing the Netherlands Antilles. Da Costa Gomez remained the leader of the National People's Party; he was succeeded in leadership by Juan Evertsz after his death in 1966. Da Costa Gomez's doctoral thesis called for self-government and

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 stanc ...

and inspired his followers as well as the Roman Catholic Party. Reforms led by Gomez led to legalization of tambú music parties in 1952.The 'air of liberty': narratives of the South Atlantic past
by Ineke Phaf-Rheinberger, page 124 In 1973 a statue of the statesman was unveiled in the center of the

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

capital

Willemstad Willemstad ( , ; ; en, William I of the Netherlands, William Town, italic=yes) is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdo ...

. He is buried in a monument at the Morada Santa in Bottelier.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costa Gomez, Moises Frumencio da 1907 births 1966 deaths National People's Party (Curaçao) politicians People from Willemstad Prime Ministers of the Netherlands Antilles Radboud University Nijmegen alumni University of Amsterdam alumni