David George Findlay (27 March 1913 – 6 April 1982) was a Surinamese politician, editor, and writer. He was the owner and chief editor of the newspaper ''

De West ''De West'' is one of the main newspapers of Suriname. ''De West'' was founded in 1892, and in its early years was a conservative paper that had a somewhat antagonistic rivalry with the left-leaning ''Suriname'', the other leading newspaper in wha ...

''.

Biography

Findlay was born on 27 March 1913 in

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 ...

as David George Albert Findlay. He left for the

Netherlands Antilles The Netherlands Antilles (, ; ), also known as the Dutch Antilles, was a constituent Caribbean country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of the islands of Saba (island), Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten in the Lesser Antilles, ...

to work for

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...

, and later became a teacher at the

MULO Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs (Dutch, "more advanced primary education") was during part of the twentieth century a level of education in the Netherlands, Suriname and the Dutch East Indies. The system was comparable with the junior high school l ...

Aruba Aruba, officially the Country of Aruba, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the southern Caribbean Sea north of the Venezuelan peninsula of Paraguaná Peninsula, Paraguaná and northwest of Curaçao. In 19 ...

. , owner of ''

'' persuaded Findlay to return to Suriname, and become a newspaper editor. Findlay returned in September 1943. In 1947, Kraan retired, and Findlay bought the newspaper.

Politics

Findlay was first elected to the

Estates of Suriname The National Assembly (, commonly abbreviated "DNA") is the Parliament, representing the legislative branch of government in Suriname. It is a unicameral legislature. The assembly has been situated in the former park house at the Independence S ...

in 1946. In 1950, Lou Lichtveld had fired doctor over alleged irregularities which were later proven false. Findlay demanded the resignation of Lichtveld. The matter cumulated in the downfall of the government in 1951. After a schism in 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 ...

(NPS), Findlay left the NPS, and founded the Surinamese Democratic Party (SDP). In 1955, he was re-elected as part of the Unity Front. In 1958, the National Party of Suriname made a comeback, and Findlay had to wait until 1963 to be re-elected. In 1969, he retired from politics.

Coup d'etat

On 25 February 1980,

Dési Bouterse Desiré Delano Bouterse (; 13 October 1945 – 23 December 2024De Ware Tijd‘Bouterse maandagavond overleden’ 27 december 2024 StarnieuwsAmbassades tekenen condoleanceregister in Ocer 27 december 2024 ) was a Surinamese military officer, poli ...

led a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

to overthrow the government 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 ...

. During the coup, a hand grenade was thrown into the offices of ''De West'', and the building was under fire. Fortunately the fighting only caused minor damage, but it frightened Findlay. Later, the paper was forced to close.

Death

Findlay died on 6 April 1982 in Paramaribo at the age of 69.

Bibliography

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Findlay, David George 1913 births 1982 deaths Members of the National Assembly (Suriname) People from Paramaribo Surinamese male writers