biography
pronunciation:
[debroh]
| biography:
| Writer and politician, born in Bonaire, The Netherlands Antilles. He went to The Netherlands to study medicine. Between the world wars he came into contact with the group around Forum, and his first novel, Mijn zuster de negerin (1935, My Sister the Negro), was published in the Forum magazine. The novel is especially important because it is regarded as the beginning of Antillean Dutch literature. His work deals with the existentialist themes of despair and isolation; his main characters try to give meaning to their lives, but repeatedly come to the conclusion that this is an impossibility. In addition to writing he was active as a politician in The Netherlands Antilles, fulfilling the function of governor in 1962–70. |
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