Cynthia McLeod

Cynthia McLeod, 1997

Cynthia Henri McLeod (born October 4, 1936 in Paramaribo , Suriname ) is a Surinamese writer.

Life

Cynthia was born the daughter of the governor and first president of Suriname Johan Henri Eliza Ferrier and Eugenie Lionarons. A half-sister is the Dutch politician Kathleen Gertrud Ferrier . She graduated from secondary school in Suriname and then traveled to the Netherlands for further training as a child educator . After returning to Suriname and studying Dutch , she taught Dutch at the secondary school in Paramaribo from 1969 to 1978 . Her husband Donald McLeod was named Suriname Ambassador to Venezuela in 1978 . This was followed by posts in Belgium and the United States . During this time she had the opportunity to visit various archives and to study the documents there about the colonial past. The knowledge she acquired was the foundation for her later historical novels.

In 1987 her first novel was published with the title Hoe duur was de suiker? (How expensive was the sugar?). The historical novel describes the time of the 18th century in Suriname, the time of the sugar cane plantations , with its European, Jewish planters and slavery . The first edition of the publisher Vaco in Paramaribo was sold out within a few months. This novel was also translated into German and published in 1996 under the title "Surinam". The book was made into a film with the title Hoe duur was de suiker . The film premiere took place in September 2013.

She wrote other historical novels about the 19th century and a study of Elisabeth Samson, a free-born Afro-Surinamer in Suriname in the 18th century. She later turned this historical study into a novel. In another novel, Cynthia McLeod describes the period of the military dictatorship from February 1980 under the title… die revolutie niet begrepen! (… Did not understand this revolution!).

In Suriname, Cynthia McLeod organizes walking tours through historic Paramaribo. She also owned a boat, the Sweet Merodia , which offered trips to the old plantations for tourists across Suriname and Commewijne . Cynthia McLeod bought the boat in 1998 with the proceeds from the sale of her bestseller Hoe duur was de suiker? . She wanted to enable the Surinamese children to learn the history of their country not only from school books, but also from a practical perspective. The tours were free for schoolchildren and were co-financed through tourist contributions. These tours have been a thing of the past since May 2014, because the ship could no longer be financed.

Works

• Hoe duur was de suiker? , VACO NV, Paramaribo (1987), ISBN 90-5429-048-X
• Surinam [German edition of Hoe duur was de suiker? ], Verlag Nymphenburger, Munich (1996), ISBN 3-485-00744-7
• Elisabeth Samson. Een vrije zwarte vrouw in het achttiende-eeuwse Suriname (study) , Vakgroep Culturele Antropologie, Universiteit Utrecht, Utrecht (1993) [series: Bronnen voor de study van Afro-Suriname, deel 15], ISSN 0922-3630
• Elisabeth Samson. Een vrije zwarte vrouw in het achttiende-eeuwse Suriname , Uitgeverij Conserve, Schoorl (1996), ISBN 90-5429-054-4
• Ma Rochelle Passée Welkom El Dorado. Surinaamse historical roman , Uitgeverij Conserve, Schoorl (1996), ISBN 90-5429-061-7
• Tweemaal Mariënburg , Uitgeverij Conserve, Schoorl (1997), ISBN 90-5429-086-2
• toen het vacantie what. leesboek voor 7-11-jarigen , Uitgeverij Monand, Paramaribo (1999), ISBN 90-5429-128-1 [and: Uitgeverij Conserve, Schoorl (1999)]
• De vrije negerin Elisabeth. Gevangene van kleur , Uitgeverij Conserve, Schoorl (2000), ISBN 90-5429-077-3
• ... the revolution never begins! ... , Uitgeverij Conserve, Schoorl (2005), ISBN 90-5429-201-6
• Paramaribo. Stad van harmonische tegenstellingen , Uitgeverij Conserve, Schoorl (2007), ISBN 978-90-5429-237-1 . [Cynthia McLeod and NOS journalist Hennah Draaibaar wrote the book about the historical (McLeod) and everyday (Draaibaar) of the city of Paramaribo]
• Tutuba, het meisje van het slavenschip Leusden . Historical novella , Uitgeverij Conserve, Schoorl (2013), ISBN 978-90-5429-357-6
• Zenobia - Slavin op het Paleis (historical novel), Uitgeverij Conserve, Schoorl (2015), ISBN 978-90-5429-399-6

Web links

Commons : Cynthia McLeod  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Literature by and about Cynthia McLeod in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from September 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Film Festival: Hoe duur was de suiker.