Johannes Kielstra
{{Short description|Dutch politician (1878–1951)}}
{{Infobox politician
| name = Johannes Kielstra
| image = File:J.C. Kielstra.jpg
| caption =
| office1 = Governor-General of Suriname
| term_start1 = 16 August 1933
| term_end1 = 3 January 1944
| predecessor1 = Bram Rutgers
| successor1 = Johannes Brons
| office2 = Ambassador of the Netherlands to Mexico
| term_start2 = January 1944
| term_end2 = 1948
| birth_name = Johannes Coenraad Kielstra
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1878|11|13}}
| birth_place = Zwartsluis, Netherlands
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1951|4|1|1878|11|13}}
| death_place = Monaco
| party = National Union
| occupation = Diplomat, professor
}}
Johannes Coenraad Kielstra (13 November 1878 – 1 April 1951) was a Dutch professor and Governor of Suriname from 1933 until 1944. During World War II, he increased his authority and imprisoned political opponents causing the resignation of all elected members of the Estates of Suriname. On 28 December 1943, he was given an honourable discharge by the Dutch government-in-exile. He served as Ambassador of the Netherlands to Mexico from 1944 until 1948.{{cite web|url=https://www.parlement.com/id/vgw52s1v36xw/j_c_kielstra |title=Mr. J.C. Kielstra |website=Parliament of the Netherlands|access-date=21 December 2021|language=nl}}
Biography
Kielstra was born on 13 November 1878 in Zwartsluis, son of a Mennonite minister. In 1896, he studied law at Leiden University, and received his doctorate in 1901. In 1903, he moved to Indonesia, and worked at the Justice Department in Batavia (present-day Jakarta).{{cite web|url=http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/bwn1880-2000/lemmata/bwn2/kielstra |title=Kielstra, Johannes Coenraad (1878-1951) |website=Biographical Dictionary of the Netherlands| author=E. van Laar|access-date=21 December 2021|language=nl}}
In 1918, Kielstra was appointed professor of colonial political science and economics at Wageningen University, and would remain professor until 1936. From 1922 until 1923, he was rector magnificus (president) of the university.{{cite web|url=https://profs.library.uu.nl/index.php/profrec/getprofdata/1106/-42/14/0 |title=Prof.mr.dr. J.C. Kielstra (1878 - 1951) |website=Catalogus Professorum Academiae Rheno-Traiectinae (=University of Utrecht)|access-date=21 December 2021|language=nl}} In 1925, he travelled to the Dutch West Indies and visited Suriname which would become the main focus of his writings. In 1925, he was a co-founder of the National Union, a short-lived fascist party.{{cite thesis|url=https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/2162349/34501_UBA003000077_010.pdf |title=Dienaren van het gezag. De Amsterdamse politie tijdens de bezetting |page=149-150 |author=A.J.J. Meershoek|year=1999|access-date=21 December 2021|language=nl|publisher=University of Amsterdam}}
On 16 August 1933, Kielstra was appointed Governor-General of Suriname. He attempted to create autonomous village communities, and rejected assimilation of the different ethnic groups. In 1937, he proposed separate marriage laws for Hindus and Muslims. The Afro-Surinamese were opposed to the proposal, and it was rejected twice by the Estates of Suriname.
The German invasion of the Netherlands resulted in a declaration of a state of emergency in Suriname. Kielstra used the state of emergency to increase his power and circumvent the Estates.{{cite magazine|url=https://dbnl.nl/tekst/_oso001199501_01/_oso001199501_01_0019.php |title=De Unie Suriname |author=Johan Ferrier|magazine=OSO. Tijdschrift voor Surinaamse taalkunde, letterkunde en geschiedenis|year=1995|access-date=21 December 2021|language=nl}}{{rp|160}} The marriage law was put in effect by decree in 1940. It was repealed in 1973.{{cite news|url=https://www.dbsuriname.com/2017/12/05/kindhuwelijken-leeftijd-en-seksualiteit/ |title=Kindhuwelijken, leeftijd en seksualiteit |website=Dagblad Suriname|access-date=21 December 2021|language=nl|quote=The 1973 law is still controversial, because the minimum age for women is 15 and men 17 violating both the equality principle and the age of consent.}}
Back in 1938, Kielstra had involuntarily committed Louis Doedel, a trade unionist, in a psychiatric hospital.{{cite web|url=https://vakbondshistorie.nl/dossiers/louis-doedel-1905-1980/ |title=Louis Doedel (1905-1980)|website=Vakbonds Historie|access-date=21 December 2021|language=nl}} He would use his increased authority against political opponents. Eddy Bruma and Otto Huiswoud were arrested and imprisoned without trial.{{cite web|url=https://www.suriname.nu/701vips/belangrijke05.html |title=BRUMA, Eddy Johan|website=Suriname.nu|access-date=21 December 2021|language=nl}}{{cite web|url=https://www.suriname.nu/701vips/belangrijke20.html |title=Otto Eduard Gerardus Majella Huiswoud|website=Suriname.nu|access-date=21 December 2021|language=nl}}
On 23 July 1943,{{cite web|url=http://www.surinaamsmuseum.net/2005/10/03/museumstof-74-wim-bos-verschuur-de-sika-in-de-pels-van-kielstra/ |title=Museumstof 74: Wim Bos Verschuur, de sika in de pels van Kielstra|website=Surinaams Museum|access-date=21 December 2021|language=nl}} Wim Bos Verschuur, a member of the Estates, petitioned Queen Wilhelmina to remove Kielstra from office. On 30 July 1943, he was arrested and interned without trial.{{rp|162}} Subsequently, all elected members of the Estates handed in their resignation. On 28 December 1943, he was given an honourable discharge by the Dutch government-in-exile.
In 1944, Kielstra was appointed Ambassador of the Netherlands to Mexico with an accreditation for Guatemala, and served until his retirement in 1948. He moved to Monaco, and died on 1 April 1951 at the age of 72.
References
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Category:Governors of Suriname
Category:People from Zwartewaterland
Category:Ambassadors of the Netherlands to Mexico
Category:Leiden University alumni
Category:Academic staff of Wageningen University and Research