Cola Debrot
{{Short description|Dutch writer, lawyer, doctor and politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| office = Governor of the Netherlands Antilles
| name = Cola Debrot
| birth_name = Nicolaas Debrot
| occupation = Writer, lawyer, doctor, politician
| birth_date = 4 May 1902
| death_date = 3 December 1981 (aged 79)
| birth_place = Kralendijk, Bonaire, Netherlands
| death_place = Amsterdam, Netherlands
| predecessor = {{ill|Aldert van Bruggen|nl}}
| successor = Bernadito Leito
| termstart = 1962
| termend = 1970
| image = Nicolaas Debrot (1963).jpg
| alma_mater = Utrecht University
}}
Nicolaas (Cola) Debrot (4 May 1902 – 3 December 1981) was a writer, lawyer, medical doctor and politician.[http://literatuurmuseum.nl/overzichten/activiteiten-tentoonstellingen/pantheon/cola-debrot literatuurmuseum.nl]
Biography
Debrot was born in Kralendijk, the son of a plantation owner. In 1904, he moved from Bonaire to Curaçao, and then when he was 14 he moved to the Netherlands to attend school. He went to secondary school, and later to Utrecht University in the Netherlands, studying law and later medicine, where he also started his literary career.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LoFyDQAAQBAJ&dq=cola+debrot++Utrecht+University&pg=PA166|title=The Cross-Cultural Legacy: Critical and Creative Writings in Memory of Hena Maes-Jelinek |last1=Collier|first1=Gordon|last2=Davis|first2=Geoffrey V. |last3=Delrez|first3=Marc|last4=Ledent|first4=Bénédicte|date=2016-11-17 |publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-33808-1|language=en}} His debut, Mijn zuster de negerin (1935) is his best known. In the late 1940s, he returned to the Antilles and lived on Curaçao, where he established the foundations of Dutch-Antillian literature.
Debrot was also active as a politician. In 1952, Debrot became the Minister Plenipotentiary of the Netherlands Antilles and played a major role in reshaping the relationship between the Netherlands, the Antilles and Suriname. From 1962 to 1970, Debrot served as Governor of the Netherlands Antilles, the first to be born on one of the islands. In 1970, he retired to the Netherlands to dedicate his time to writing.{{cite web|url=https://literatuurmuseum.nl/overzichten/activiteiten-tentoonstellingen/pantheon/cola-debrot|title=Cola Debrot|website=Literatuur Museum|access-date=9 June 2020|language=nl}} He died in Amsterdam.
Cola Debrot Prize
In 1968, the Government of Curaçao, decided to institute a yearly cultural award. The award was named after Cola Debrot. The annual prize can be awarded for either music, literature or science.{{cite book|url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/rutg014bene01_01/rutg014bene01_01_0043.php |page=415 |title=Beneden en boven de wind|author=Wim Rutgers|year=1996|location=Amsterdam|publisher=De Bezige Bij|isbn=9023435303}}
Cola Debrot Lectures
In 2008, the Werkgroep Caraïbische Letteren, an independent group within the Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde, which aims to promote and assist Caribbean literature, initiated the annual Cola Debrot lectures in Amsterdam.{{cite web|url=https://werkgroepcaraibischeletteren.nl/over/|title=Over de Werkgroep|access-date=9 June 2020|language=nl|website=Werkgroep Caraïbische Letteren}} The first lecture was given by the Nobel Prize winning author Derek Walcott.{{cite web|url=https://www.spui25.nl/gedeelde-content/evenementen/lezingen/2008/05/nobelprijs-winnaar-derek-walcott-bezoekt-amsterdam.html?cb|title=Nobelprijs winnaar Derek Walcott bezoekt Amsterdam|website=Spui 25 (Academic Podium of University of Amsterdam)|access-date=9 June 2020|language=nl|archive-date=9 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609065157/https://www.spui25.nl/gedeelde-content/evenementen/lezingen/2008/05/nobelprijs-winnaar-derek-walcott-bezoekt-amsterdam.html?cb|url-status=dead}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{commons category|Nicolaas (Cola) Debrot}}
External links
- [https://www.dbnl.nl/auteurs/auteur.php?id=debr003 Cola Debrot at Digital Library for Dutch Literature] (in Dutch)
- [https://werkgroepcaraibischeletteren.nl/category/werkgroepnieuws/coladrebrotlezing/ Cola Debrot Lectures at Werkgroep Caraïbische Letteren] (in Dutch)
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Debrot, Cola}}
Category:Dutch Antillean physicians
Category:Governors of the Netherlands Antilles
Category:Ministers plenipotentiary (Netherlands Antilles)