Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You

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Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You (2006)

Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You (born November 11, 1946 in Paramaribo ) is a Surinamese - Dutch lawyer and human rights activist who lives and works in the Netherlands .

biography

Training and activity in Suriname

Lilian Ho Kang You's father was a dentist; her parents had Chinese , French , African and Sephardic ancestors. After school, Lilian Ho Kang You went to the Netherlands and studied law at the University of Leiden . In 1970 she returned to Suriname with a degree and was offered a position as a cabinet attorney by then Prime Minister Jules Sedney . This is how she met the lawyer Kenneth Gonçalves , whom she married.

In 1973 Kenneth Gonçalves opened his own law firm, in which his wife later worked as a partner. On February 25, 1980, the military, led by Desi Bouterse, carried out a coup . Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You and her husband publicly criticized the resulting grievances in the country and the dwindling democracy. Shortly after the coup, her brother Milton Ho Kang You was found shot dead in the garage of his home. The military was thought to have had a hand, but the murder was never solved. On the night of December 7th to 8th, 1982, Kenneth Gonçalves was taken from his house by soldiers and a few hours later, like 14 other opposition members, were murdered ( December murders ). After the murder of her husband, Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You continued to work in her law firm, but she no longer felt safe in Suriname, which is why she went to the Netherlands with her daughter in 1983.

In the Netherlands

Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You also initially worked as a lawyer in the Netherlands. From 1994 to 2000 she was deputy chairwoman of the Commissie gelijke Zeiten ( Equal Treatment Committee ) and from 1997 to 2006 a member of the Onafhankelijke Post en Telecommunicatie Autoriteit ( Independent Post and Telecommunication Authority OPTA ), in the last few years as Vice-President. From 2009 to 2010 she was an associate member of the Raad van State and from 2010 to 2016 an advisory member, for example in the constitutional committee.

Gonçalves has and still held numerous other offices and honorary posts, for example in the Landelijk Bureau Racismebestrijding ( National Anti-Racism Bureau ) and in organizations in the field of development cooperation . In 2001 she became chairman of the Dutch section of Amnesty International , where she was jointly responsible for the organization's more active position on the issue of fundamental social rights. In September 2006, Gonçalves was elected chairman of the International Executive Committee of Amnesty International in London for a year and remained a member of the board until 2009. In 2005, she received the Dutch Lawyers Association's award for her work for Amnesty International . She was also chairman of the Prins Claus Fund . On May 30th, 2007 she gave the 13th  Mandeville Lecture on the topic of Boundless Dignity in the auditorium of the Erasmus University Rotterdam . In March 2008 she received the Aletta Jacobs Prize from the University of Groningen . She was also the first chairman of the working group Caribbean Literature of the Society of Dutch literature . She sits on the supervisory board of Radboud University Nijmegen ( as of 2018 ). In 2011 Gonçalves was appointed director of the foundation trust bureau NL Financial Investments by Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager . In 2015 Gonçalves received an honorary doctorate from the University of Leiden.

In 2009 the newspaper De Volkskrant placed Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You in 37th place among the 200 most influential Dutch people.

Private

Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You is a second marriage to the Dutch psychiatrist and author Antoine de Kom , who also has Surinamese roots. He is a grandson of Anton de Kom , a Surinamese communist and resistance fighter against the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e DPG Media Privacy Gate. In: pzc.nl. Retrieved August 20, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b c lilian gonçalves-ho kang you. In: vpro.nl. Retrieved August 21, 2020 (Dutch).
  3. ↑ a b SAP Secretariat for Political Affairs. In: oas.org. March 18, 2015, accessed August 21, 2020 .
  4. ^ Piet Gerbrandy: Bruine tantes. In: groene.nl. October 16, 2013, accessed August 21, 2020 (Dutch).
  5. ↑ Antoine de Kom. In: singeluitgeverijen.nl. July 4, 2018, accessed August 21, 2020 (Dutch).
personal data
SURNAME Gonçalves-Ho Kang You, Lilian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ho Kang You, Lilian (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Surinamese-Dutch lawyer and human rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH November 11, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Paramaribo