Henry Neijhorst

Henry Roëll Neijhorst (also Neyhorst; born 1940)[1] is a Surinamese economist who served as Prime Minister of Suriname from March 31 to December 9, 1982. He also served as Minister of Finance from March 15 to August 15, 1980.

Henry Neijhorst
3rd Prime Minister of Suriname
In office 31 March 1982 – 9 December 1982
President	Fred Ramdat Misier
Preceded by	Henk Chin A Sen
Succeeded by	Errol Alibux
Minister of Finance
In office 15 March 1980 – 15 August 1980
Prime Minister	Henk Chin A Sen
Preceded by	Lesley Goede
Succeeded by	Marcel Chehin
Personal details
Born	Henry Roëll Neijhorst c. 1940
Nationality	Surinamese
Political party	Independent
Spouse(s)	1
Children	4
Alma mater	Tilburg University
Occupation	Economist

Education and early career

Neijhorst studied economics at the University of Amsterdam and the School of Economics in Rotterdam, eventually receiving his drs. in economics from the Catholic University of Tilburg in 1972. During his studies, he was active in the Nationalist Student Movement, an organisation of Surinamese students in the Netherlands.[1]

Cabinet

When Henk Chin A Sen became Prime Minister after the 1980 Sergeants' Coup, he chose Neijhorst as his Finance Minister. Neijhorst at the time had been serving as the economic director of the National Development Bank. [2] After the serving Minister of Economic Planning was dismissed in June, Neijhorst took over that position as well.[3] However, when President Ferrier was forced by the military to resign in August, Neijhorst voluntarily resigned from the Cabinet soon after. [4][5] He was the basis for a fictional Finance Minister in Joop van der Broek's 1981 novel Afrekening in Paramaribo (Settling in Paramaribo).[6]

After his resignation, Neijhorst became a member of the Committee for Netherlands-Suriname Cooperation. [5] He also joined the Surinaams Postspaarbank (Surinamese Postal Savings Bank) as a director.[1]

In March 1982, Neijhorst was jointly appointed as Prime Minister and acting Finance Minister to succeed Chin A Sen.[7] He was part of the four-member Policy Centre, a governing body whose other members were Foreign Minister Harvey Naarendorp, Military Council Chairman Desi Bouterse, and Military Council Vice-Chairman Roy Horb. In theory, the Policy Centre would provide a buffer between the National Military Council and the civilian Cabinet of Ministers.[8] However, Neijhorst and the rest of the Cabinet chose to resign after the National Military Council unilaterally decided to eliminate opposition leaders.[9]

In 1991, Neijhorst became an economic advisor to the Venetiaan government.[10]

Later career

Neijhorst contributed photographs of 1960's sports teams to The First Surinamese Sports Encyclopaedia (1893-1988).[11] He also edited a 1998 volume of articles by Jnan Adhin. [12] In honor of Humphrey Mijnals' eightieth birthday (2010), Neijhorst published a tribute brochure in cooperation with the Surinamese Football Association. Neijhorst drew attention to Mijnals' pioneering records: one of the first foreign players in Brazilian football, the first European national team player not of European origin, and the first nonwhite captain of USV Elinkwijk.[13]

References

1. "PREMIER NEIJHORST VAN SURINAME: 'Geen man van lange filosofieën'". Het Vrije Volk via kb.nl (in Dutch). 6 April 1982. p. 4.
2. "Regering Suriname vandaag bekend". Leidse Courant (in Dutch). 14 March 1980. p. 1.
3. "Bij nadering bezoek van De Koning: Nog meer ontslagen in kabinet Suriname". Leeuwarder Courant via kb.nl (in Dutch). 21 June 1980.
4. van Klaveren, Frans (16 August 1980). "Chin A Sen snijdt links en rechts de pas af". NRC Handelsblad via kb.nl (in Dutch). p. 4.
5. van Klaveren, Frans (25 September 1980). "Vroegere Surinaamse minister van financiën en economische zaken Neijhorst: 'Terwijl we op het betere wachten komt het goede niet'". NRC Handelsblad via kb.nl (in Dutch). p. 18.
6. "Thriller van Joop van den Broek: De Surinaamse onderwereld". NRC Handelsblad via kb.nl (in Dutch). 27 November 1981.
7. "Econoom Neijhorst wordt premier: Suriname heeft nieuwe regering". Limburgsch Dagblad via kb.nl (in Dutch). 31 March 1982. p. 3.
8. "Leden beleidscentrum Suriname in functie". Nederlands Dagblad via kb.nl (in Dutch). 7 April 1982. p. 3.
9. Janssen, Roger (2011). In Search of a Path: An Analysis of the Foreign Policy of Suriname from 1975 to 1991. Leiden: Brill. p. 146. ISBN 978-90-04-25367-4. JSTOR 10.1163/j.ctt1w8h0wm.
10. Bagijn, Karel (18 November 1991). "'De hulp is hersteld, dat is een doorbraak'". Algemeen Dagblad via kb.nl (in Dutch). p. 3.
11. Stutgard, Ricky W. (1990). De eerste Surinaamse sportencyclopedie (1893-1988) (in Dutch). Paramaribo: Alberga. ISBN 99914 949 3 6.
12. Rolfes, Irene (May 1999). "Recente publicaties". OSO. Tijdschrift voor Surinaamse taalkunde, letterkunde en geschiedenis. (in Dutch). 18 (1): 106.
13. Herewood, Stan (28 July 2019). "Humphrey Mijnals opende deur voor Surinamers". De Ware Tijd (in Dutch).

Political offices
Preceded by Hendrick Rudolf Chin A Sen	Prime Minister of Suriname 1982	Succeeded by Liakat Ali Errol Alibux