Bethesda was a Moravian

leper Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria '' Mycobacterium leprae'' or '' Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve da ...

colony from 1899 until 1933. The name refers to the healing of the paralytic at Bethesda by Jesus. The colony was located near

Paranam Paranam is a town in the Para District, Suriname. Paranam was created in 1938 for a bauxite factory. In 1965, an aluminium smelter was added. The factories closed down in 2017. History There used to be a little hamlet called ''Klein Curaçao'' at ...

in the Oost resort on the

Suriname River The Suriname River ( Dutch: ''Surinamerivier'') is long and flows through the country of Suriname. Its sources are located in the Guiana Highlands on the border between the Wilhelmina Mountains and the Eilerts de Haan Mountains (where it is kn ...

. It was originally located on the former sugar

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

' Great Chatillon', that already served as a leper colony of the Dutch colonial state. The

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

leper colony ' Saint Gerardus Majella', founded in 1895 as successor of Batavia, was located nearby.Joop Vernooij: ''Lepra en katholieke kerk in Suriname in de 19e eeuw'' (in Dutch), Academic Journal of Suriname, Vol. 8, 2017, page 762-770 In 1933 the Bethesda leper colony moved to

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

, closer to the centre of Paramaribo, where it functioned as New Bethesda until 1964. Initially patient care at Bethesda was in the hands of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

deaconess The ministry of a deaconess is a ministry for women in some Protestant, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox churches to provide pastoral care, especially for other women, and which may carry a liturgical role. The word comes from the Greek ...

es. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

their leadership was taken over by the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

and the Surinamese.Stephen Snelders: ''Leprosy and Colonialism: Suriname Under Dutch Rule, 1750-1950,''

Manchester University Press Manchester University Press is the university press of the University of Manchester, England, and a publisher of academic books and journals. Manchester University Press has developed into an international publisher. It maintains its links with t ...

, 2017

Overview

Bethesda was founded in 1899 as a small leprosy colony. In 1902, Henry Weiss left for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with some pictures of the colony taken by the German deaconess Martha Stern in order to raise funds. Weiss managed to visit President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

. The mission was clearly successful, because the next set of photographs by Martha Stern display an American flag. The colony treated between 50 and 60 patients in the period 1910–1921. Bethesda was a little agricultural village with several pavilions, and some residential houses in a park. The patients did not receive any

wage A wage is payment made by an employer to an employee for work (human activity), work done in a specific period of time. Some examples of wage payments include wiktionary:compensatory, compensatory payments such as ''minimum wage'', ''prevailin ...

s, and were expected to work, if able. Bethesda was reluctant to take in patients from other leper colonies in Suriname. Nevertheless, in 1935 there were 6

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

and 3 Catholic patients at Bethesda, possibly under the condition of conversion to the Moravian denomination. The care for the lepers was partially financed by private donations from the US, Germany and the Netherlands and partially by a Dutch government

subsidy A subsidy, subvention or government incentive is a type of government expenditure for individuals and households, as well as businesses with the aim of stabilizing the economy. It ensures that individuals and households are viable by having acc ...

of 250

Dutch guilders The guilder (, ) or florin was the currency of the Netherlands from 1434 until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro. The Dutch name was a Middle Dutch adjective meaning 'golden', and reflects the fact that, when first introduced in 1434, its ...

per year per patient. On 25 October 1951, A.C.W. Lionarons, a doctor in

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, 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 p ...

, left his entire fortune to the foundation which as of 2002 was worth over a million euros. In 1933, the Bethesda leper colony was moved, because of flooding, to

, near the present harbour of

, and renamed to ''Nieuw Bethesda''. where it has remained in function until 1964. The number of patients in New Bethesda topped in 1949 with no less than 189 patients. It decreased from then on. In 1964 the last 4 remaining patients were transferred to ''Groot Chatillon''. This state leper colony closed its doors in 1972, three years before the

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

of Suriname. Lepers are nowadays treated in the Academic Hospital Paramaribo. The Bethesda Foundation is still active, and since 2007 has broadened its target audience to people with a severe handicap in Suriname, because the rate of leprosy has declined.

References

External links

Bethesda Suriname Foundation
(in Dutch) {{Commons category, position=left Leper colonies Para District

Overview

See also

References

External links