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)

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]

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. 1 2 3 "Trefossa en het volkslied van Suriname". Star Nieuws (in Dutch). Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  2. 1 2 H.F. de Ziel, Digital Library for Dutch Literature. "Ala poewema foe Trefossa". Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  3. 1 2 Shrinivási, Digital Library for Dutch Literature. "Wortoe d'e tan abra". Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 "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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