Henri Frans de Ziel

Henri Frans de Ziel (15 January 1916 – 3 February 1975), working under the pen name of Trefossa, was a neoromantic writer in Dutch and Sranan Tongo from Suriname. He is best known for the Sranan Tongo stanzas of Suriname's National Anthem.[1]

Trefossa
Born
Henri Frans de Ziel

(1916-01-15)15 January 1916
Paramaribo, Suriname
Died3 February 1975(1975-02-03) (aged 59)
Haarlem, Netherlands
NationalityDutch
Occupation(s)writer, poet, teacher
Notable workGod zij met ons Suriname
(Suriname's National Anthem)

Biography

He was an educator and lived in the Netherlands from 1953 to 1956.[2] Upon his return to Suriname he was part of the editorial staff of the magazines Tongoni (1958-1959) and Soela (1962-1964).[3] He also served briefly as the director-librarian of Suriname's Cultural Centre (Cultureel Centrum Suriname (CCS)).[2] He subsequently returned to the Netherlands to work on the publication of Johannes King's memoirs.[3]

Trefossa wrote primarily about the beauty of his native country, Suriname, especially as a source of peace to the restless mind. He influenced many writers in Suriname, including Corly Verlooghen, Eugène Rellum, Johanna Schouten-Elsenhout and Michaël Slory, but the depth and subtlety of his verse remain almost unique.[4]

Trefossa was annoyed about the negative nuance in the National Anthem at time, and started to transform the second stanza into a positive message. Trefossa combined this with a poem he wrote in Sranan Tongo on the death of Ronald Elwin Kappel.[5] His anthem was unanimously approved by the Government of Suriname on 7 December 1959.[1] De Ziel originally used a melody by Johannes Helstone, however the government preferred the original 1876 melody.[1]

In 1969, his health started to deteriorate, and he was admitted to the sanatorium Zonneduin in Bloemendaal. Here he met his wife, Hulda Walser, whom he married in 1970. On 3 Februari 1975, de Ziel died in Haarlem.[4]

On 21 November 2005, a monument was dedicated in his honour on the Sophie Redmondstraat in Paramaribo. His ashes and the ashes of his wife, Hulda Walser, were also placed at the monument.[4] A documentary film, Trefossa: I Am Not I (Trefossa: Mi a no mi), by filmmaker Ida Does, was produced in 2008.[6]

Poem

The poem by Trefossa, referenced in the external link about the mural at the bottom, is translated from Sranan into English below:

Gronmama Earthmother
Mi a no mi

solanga mi brudu
fu yu a n'e trubu
na ini den dusun titei fu mi

 I am not myself

until my blood
is infused with you
in all of my veins

Mi a no mi

solang mi lutu
n'e saka, n'e sutu
mi gronmama

 I am not myself

until my roots
sink down, shoot
into you, my earthmother

Mi a no mi

solang m'no krari
fu kibri, fu tyari
yu gersi na ini mi dyodyo.

 I am not myself

until I manage
to keep, to carry
your image in my soul

Mi a no mi

solanga y' n'e bari
f' prisir' ofu pen
na ini mi sten.

 I am not myself

until you cry out
with pleasure, or pain
in my voice

References
  1. "Trefossa en het volkslied van Suriname". Star Nieuws (in Dutch). Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  2. H.F. de Ziel, Digital Library for Dutch Literature. "Ala poewema foe Trefossa". Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  3. Shrinivási, Digital Library for Dutch Literature. "Wortoe d'e tan abra". Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  4. "Herdenking 40ste sterfdag van Trefossa". Dagblad De West (in Dutch). Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  5. "ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 163559". Aviation Safety. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  6. Romero, Ivette (2016). "Does, Ida (1955– ), film director and journalist". In Knight, Franklin W.; Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (eds.). Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro–Latin American Biography. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-199-93580-2. – via Oxford University Press's Reference Online (subscription required)

Sources
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