Leonardus Josephus "Jozef" Weidmann (3 October 1899 – 15 September 1962) was a Dutch-Surinamese Catholic priest, politician and union leader. He is one of the founders of the

Progressive Surinamese People's Party The Progressive Surinamese People's Party (, PSV) was a political party in Suriname. The party was a member of the Christian Democrat Organization of America. The party was founded in August 1946 by, among others, Father Jozef Weidmann and Coen O ...

(PSV). Weidmann played a leading role in establishing

universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...

in Suriname, and was the founder of , the oldest recognised trade union in Suriname.

Biography

Weidmann was born on 3 October 1899 in

Kerkrade Kerkrade (; Kerkrade dialect, Ripuarian: ; ; or ''Kirchrath'') is a town and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeast of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, the southernmost province of the Netherlands. It forms part of the P ...

, Netherlands. In 1925, he was ordained priest of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. In 1928, he was sent to Suriname as a missionary, and worked in the interior among the

Maroons Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas and islands of the Indian Ocean who escaped from slavery, through flight or manumission, and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with Indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into ...

and

Amerindian In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...

s. Later, he became a priest 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 ...

. On 7 December 1942,

Wilhelmina of the Netherlands Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was List of monarchs of the Netherlands, Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, making her the longest- ...

made a radio speech promising autonomy for the colonies. Weidmann decided to become politically active, and asked the Vatican permission to relieve him, and venture into politics. In August 1946, Weidmann was one of the founders of the

(PSV), a Christian democratic party. He started to emphasise

, because he was of the opinion that democracy was not possible without universal suffrage first. On 16 February 1948, Weidmann founded the (PWO), the oldest recognised trade union in Suriname, and served as its chairperson. On 7 March 1948, he organised a demonstration for universal suffrage which was attended by more than 20,000 people. On 28 January 1948, , a member of the PSV, attended the First Round Table Conference in The Hague on behalf of Suriname, In July 1948, the

States General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( ) is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate (Netherlands), Senate () and the House of Representatives (Netherlands), House of R ...

voted to extend universal suffrage to Suriname. On 30 May 1949, the first

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

was held, however the PSV failed to gain any seats. Weidmann died on 15 September 1962 at the age of 62.

Legacy

After his death, the Father Weidmann Foundation, was established. The foundation was chaired by

Emile Wijntuin Emile Linus Alfred Wijntuin (22 September 1924 – 7 May 2020) was a Surinamese politician who served as Chairman of the National Assembly of Suriname from 1975 until the aftermath of the 1980 Surinamese coup d'état. Wijntuin was a member of t ...

and operates a home for stray children. On 1 April 1975, Weidmann was honoured with a statue created by . The statue is located near the offices of the PWO, and a street in Rainville was named after Father Weidmann. In 1996, Wijntuin published ''Weidmann, grondlegger van het algemeen kiesrecht in Suriname'', a biography about Weidmann and the struggle for universal suffrage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weidmann, Jozef 1899 births 1962 deaths Dutch Roman Catholic missionaries 20th-century Dutch Roman Catholic priests 20th-century Surinamese politicians People from Kerkrade Surinamese clergy Surinamese trade unionists