Herman Benjamins

Herman Daniël Benjamins was born in Paramaribo on 25 February 1850.[1] Benjamins went to the Netherlands to study mathematics and physics at the University of Leiden. He received his doctorate on 2 July 1875, and returned to Suriname.[3]

In 1877, Benjamins was appointed as the principal of a high school. The school opened on 15 November 1877, but closed again in March 1878[3] due to lack of students.[1] On 1 June 1878, Benjamins was appointed Inspector of Education,[3] and served in this capacity until 1910.[1] In 1882, the Geneeskundige School, a non-academic medical school, was founded and Benjamins was among the first teachers.[4]

During the first nine years, he doubles the number of students and teachers in Suriname.[5] Benjamins propagated the use of Dutch over Sranan Tongo, the English-based Creole spoken throughout the colony.[6] In 1893, he was awarded as Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion.[7] In 1910, he asked for retirement, and retired to the Netherlands.[8]

In 1914, Benjamins and Johannes Snelleman embarked on an encyclopaedia about the Dutch West-Indies. On 27 February 1917, the Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch West-Indië was published.[9] In 2008, the Digital Library for Dutch Literature compiled the Canon of Dutch Literature, a list of 1,000 culturally important publications which includes the Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch West-Indië.[10]

In 1919, Benjamins founded De West-Indische Gids, a magazine with topics about Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles.[11] In 2012, the magazine was acquired by Brill Publishers and is nowadays known as New West Indian Guide.[12] In 1898, Benjamins first started to write about the border dispute between Suriname and British Guiana. He extensively used his magazine to resolve the issue.[13] Benjamins was also fascinated by Aphra Behn, and often wrote about her.[14] In the translation of Oroonoko, Benjamins added a foreword casting doubt whether Behn had actually lived in Suriname, or whether the story is fictitious.[15]

Benjamins died 25 January 1933 in The Hague at the age of 82.[1]

On 25 February 1930, the Westerschool was renamed Dr H.D. Benjaminsschool.[16] The H.D. Benjaminsstraat in Paramaribo has named in his honour.[1]

• Benjamins, Herman Daniël; Snelleman, Johannes (1917). Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch West-Indië. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
• Snelleman, Johannes (1933). "Levensbericht van Dr Herman Daniël Benjamins". Jaarboek van de Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde (in Dutch). {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
• De Gids (1935). "Doctor Herman Daniël Benjamins". De Gids. Almanak voor Suriname 1936 (in Dutch). {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)

• Herman Daniël Benjamins at Digital Library for Dutch Literature (in Dutch)
• (New) West Indian Guide at University of Florida Digital Collections