Coenraad van Lier (6 January 1836 – 20 January 1903) was a

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

se physician, politician, and military officer. He established the first medical school in Suriname.

Biography

Van Lier was born on 6 January 1836 in

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the 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 ...

. He joined the

Royal Netherlands Army The Royal Netherlands Army ( nl, Koninklijke Landmacht) is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised – making the Dut ...

, and studied at the Rijks Kweekschool voor Militaire Geneeskundigen in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Nethe ...

. In 1856, he graduated Officer of Health 3rd Class. In 1861, he graduated

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degre ...

at the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollm ...

, and was promoted Officer of Health 2nd Class. In 1865, he was granted dismissal from the army, and became a medical doctor in Paramaribo. In 1868, van Lier was appointed second city doctor. In 1877, he was elected to the Colonial Estates. Healthcare in Suriname was limited outside of the capital Paramaribo. In 1880, he forwarded a motion to establish a medical school which passed the Estates, however the

States General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States ...

removed the plan from the budget. In 1881, a new motion was accepted. On 1 April 1882, the

Geneeskundige School The Geneeskundige School was a non-academic medical school in Paramaribo founded in 1882. It provided free education for medical students who were only allowed to practice in the Dutch West Indies, and had to work as a District doctor for six years ...

was founded, and van Lier served as one of the teachers of the school. On 6 August 1891, van Lier retired from the Colonial Estates. He moved to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

where he worked as a physician. Van Lier died on 20 January 1903, at the age of 67.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lier, Coenraad van 1836 births 1903 deaths Surinamese educators Surinamese physicians Members of the National Assembly (Suriname) 19th-century Dutch military personnel 19th-century Dutch physicians 20th-century Dutch physicians Utrecht University alumni People from Paramaribo