Ruth Jeanette Wijdenbosch (born 18 June 1947) is a

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

se politician. She served as a member of the

National Assembly of Suriname The National Assembly (, commonly abbreviated "DNA") is the Parliament, representing the legislature, legislative branch of government in Suriname. It is a unicameral legislature. The assembly has been situated in the former Buiten-Sociëteit Het ...

from 1987 until 2015, on behalf of the

National Party of Suriname The National Party of Suriname (, NPS) is a political party in Suriname, founded in 1946, and since June 2012 led by Gregory Rusland. For a long time it was the largest ruling party in the country, and it has been in government for a total of ove ...

Biography

Wijdenbosch was raised in Zanderij, a village 40 kilometers from

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

. She studied law at the

Anton de Kom University of Suriname Anton de Kom University () is the only university in Suriname. It is located in the capital, Paramaribo, and named for Anton de Kom, an anti-colonialist activist who was killed by the Nazis while in exile in the Netherlands. History Founding ...

, but had to interrupt her studies for a long time in 1980 because the university was closed due to the Sergeants' Coup and the

December murders The December murders (Dutch: ''Decembermoorden'') were the murders on 7, 8, and 9 December 1982, of fifteen prominent young Surinamese men who had criticized the military dictatorship then ruling Suriname. Thirteen of these men were arrested on De ...

. She graduated from the university in 1989. During this period she worked at the Vervuurts Bank (later known as Hakrinbank). In 1987, she entered politics and joined the

(NPS). She founded the local branch ''De Nieuwe Horizon'' among others, of which she became chairwoman. In the same year, she was asked to join the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

, a request she accepted. In 1997, she was nominated by the cores of the Paramaribo branch of the NPS as vice-chairwoman of the party board. However, this nomination was ignored. Instead, she was offered a place somewhere at the bottom of the candidate list, which she refused. On the advice of

Henck Arron Henck Alphonsus Eugène Arron (25 April 1936 – 4 December 2000) was a Surinamese politician who served as the first Prime Minister of Suriname after it gained independence in 1975. A member of the National Party of Suriname, he served from 24 ...

, whom she considered her most important political guru, she chose sides in an internal party struggle. In doing so, she voluntarily chose the side of Meeting Point 2000 and took a place on the candidate list of this political group. This almost ended her political career, but she still managed to hold her own within the party. In 2010, Wijdenbosch was elected vice-chair of the National Assembly. In 2015, she retired from politics after 27 years as a member of parliament. She was elected six times as a member. In November 2020, Wijdenbosch was awarded the title of Commander of the Honorary Order of the Palm by President

Chan Santokhi Chandrikapersad "Chan" Santokhi (; , ; born 3 February 1959) is a Surinamese politician and former police officer who is the 9th president of Suriname, since 2020. After winning the 2020 elections, Santokhi was the sole nominee for president o ...

.Kabinet van de President Gedecoreerden
gov.sr.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wijdenbosch, Ruth 1947 births Living people National Party of Suriname politicians Members of the National Assembly (Suriname) Anton de Kom University of Suriname alumni 20th-century Surinamese politicians 20th-century Surinamese women politicians 21st-century Surinamese politicians 21st-century Surinamese women politicians