Frederik Marinus Emanuel Derby (March 31, 1940 – May 19, 2001) was 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 and trade unionist. He was the only survivor of 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 ...

. In the years before his death he fought for an investigation into these events, and he told what had happened to him in Fort Zeelandia.

Biography

Derby was born in the district of Para, on the site of a former plantation, Berlijn. In 1954, he left as foster carer to

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 ...

. He attended the secondary school, and received the certificate for teacher. Then he became a teacher at a technical school. In 1968, he was a trade unionist, and was involved in the establishment of the Confederation

C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for troo ...

in 1970. He joined the Nationalist Republican Party (PNR), which sought the independence of Suriname and sat on behalf of that party from 1973 to 1977 in the Parliament of Suriname. On the night of 7 to 8 December 1982, he was arrested by soldiers and taken to Fort Zeelandia. The next day, he was the only one of those arrested released, according to his own words on the initiative of

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 ...

. Derby emerged as a strong opponent of Bouterse and fought in the last years of his life for an investigation into the December murders. On December 8, 2000, he first told what had happened. On December 8, 1982, he had also told his story in the documentary ''The dilemma of Derby'', by Yvette Forster. Derby founded in 1987, along with Siegfried Gilds the

Surinamese Labour Party The Surinamese Labour Party (, SPA) is a political party in Suriname. In the 2010 legislative elections, the party was part of the New Front for Democracy and Development that won 31.65% of the popular vote and 14 out of 51 seats in the Natio ...

(SLA). Through the SLA, he was involved in the government of

Ronald Venetiaan Ronald Runaldo Venetiaan (born 18 June 1936) is a former politician who served as the sixth president of Suriname. Biography Venetiaan was born in Paramaribo. In 1955, Venetiaan left Suriname to study mathematics and physics at the University of ...

. He was a great opponent of the involvement of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

in Suriname and was afraid that it would be mainly

Indo-Surinamese Indo-Surinamese, Indian-Surinamese, or Hindustani Surinamese are nationals of Suriname who trace their ancestry to the Indian subcontinent. Their ancestors were indentured labourers brought by the Dutch and the British to the Dutch colony of S ...

businessmen who would take over the

service sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the ...

in Suriname. Derby was married and had seven children. He died at the age of 61 in Paramaribo due to

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

, shortly after he collapsed during a game of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

References

* : ''De arbeiders zijn me heilig. Fred Derby, vakbondsleider en politicus : een biografie'', Uitg. Amrit, Den Haag 2010. ()

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Derby, Fred 1940 births 2001 deaths People from Para District Surinamese educators Surinamese trade unionists December murders Surinamese Labour Party politicians Members of the National Assembly (Suriname) Nationalist Republican Party (Suriname) politicians