Herman Benjamin's

Herman Daniël Benjamin (born February 25, 1850 in Paramaribo , † January 23, 1933 in The Hague ) was the founder of the public school system in Suriname .

Live and act

Herman Daniël was the son of the merchant Wolf Benjamin (1813–1886 Paramaribo) and Esther nee Nunes Monsanto (1816–1908 Paramaribo).

Education

Benjamin studied mathematics and science at the University of Leiden , where he received his doctorate in July 1875. At the end of 1876 he returned to Suriname.

Head of the school system

On May 28, 1878, Benjamin was appointed inspecteur voor het onderwijs . With this he was in charge of the entire public school system in Suriname. In this position he worked continuously until 1910.

In the Dutch colony of Suriname, slavery was abolished in 1863 , followed by a ten-year state law and compulsory work, especially on the plantations. Up until the second half of the 19th century it was forbidden to give lessons to slaves in Dutch and it had developed its own language, Sranantongo .

In his office, Benjamin led a bitter struggle against the Sranantongo and for the Dutch language.

Editor, publisher

Benjamin was the founder and editor of the magazine West-Indische Gids and after his retirement formed the editorial team for the Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch West-Indië with Johannes F. Snelleman (1852–1938) .

Trivia

The Dr. HD Benjaminsstraat in Paramaribo is named after him.

literature

• CFA Bruijning u. J. Voorhoeve (main editor): Encyclopedie van Suriname. Verlag Elsevier , Amsterdam u. Brussel 1977, ISBN 90-10-01842-3 , p. 56 and 57.