{{Short description|Dutch-Surinamese writer and politician (1903–1996)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Lou Lichtveld | image = Albert Helman (Lou Lichtveld).jpg | caption = | birth_name = Lodewijk Alphonsus Maria Lichtveld | birth_date = {{Birth date|1903|11|7|df=yes}} | birth_place = Paramaribo, Suriname | death_date = {{Death date and age|1996|7|10|1903|11|7|df=yes}} | death_place = Amsterdam, Netherlands | death_cause = | other_names = Albert Helman | known_for = | education = | occupation = Playwright, poet, organist, journalist, politician | spouse = | partner = | children = Noni Lichtveld | parents = | relatives = | signature = | nationality = | political_party = National Party of Suriname }}
'''Lodewijk 'Lou' Lichtveld''' (7 November 1903 – 10 July 1996) was a Surinamese politician, playwright, poet and resistance fighter who wrote under the pseudonym "Albert Helman".
He gained notability in 1923 when he published the poetry collection ''De glorende dag '' (The Dawning Day), a milestone in immigrant literature in the Netherlands. He followed it three years later with ''Zuid-Zuid-West'' (South-South-West).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/kemp009gesc05_01/kemp009gesc05_01_0018.htm |title=Een geschiedenis van de Surinaamse literatuur |author=Michiel van Kempen |date= |work=Deel 5 |publisher=DBNL |accessdate=|language=nl}}<!-- Bot generated title --></ref>
In 1940, before the invasion of the Netherlands, he wrote the book ''Millioenen-leed'' ("Millions of Suffering") about the treatment of the Jews in Nazi Germany.<ref name="millioenen"/> During World War II, he was a member of the ''Grote Raad van de Illegaliteit'' ("Great Council of Illegality"),.<ref name="illegaliteit"/> After the war, he became part of the Emergency Parliament. In 1949, he returned to Suriname and became Minister of Education and later Minister of Health.<ref name="auteurs"/>
==Biography== Lou Lichtveld was born in Paramaribo, Suriname into an elite family.<ref name="vpro"/> At the age of twelve, he went to the Netherlands to become a priest at boarding school Rolduc in Kerkrade.<ref name="vpro"/> He completed this training after a short time and returned to Suriname. At the Paulus School in Paramaribo, he completed a music study. After that he worked as an organist and composer.<ref name="vpro"/>
In 1922, he again went to the Netherlands to start a teacher training and to continue his music studies. After completing his studies, he worked as an organist in Amsterdam and later as a journalist.<ref name="auteurs"/>
His first work in book form appeared in 1923. It was a collection of poetry called ''De glorende dag'' ("The dawning day"), which was still published under the name Lodewijk Lichtveld.<ref name="auteurs"/> He used the pseudonym "Albert Helman" for the first time in 1926 on his debut novel ''Zuid-Zuid-West'' ("South-South-West").<ref name="auteurs">{{cite web|url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/bork001nede01_01/bork001nede01_01_0568.php|title=De Nederlandse en Vlaamse auteurs|author1=G.J. van Bork |author2=P.J. Verkruijsse |date=1985|language=nl|access-date=20 June 2020}}</ref> This novel describes his memories of his country of birth and the exploitation of Suriname by the Dutch colonizer, and ended with a fierce anti-colonial epilogue.<ref name="groene">{{cite news|url=https://www.groene.nl/artikel/een-zeer-humane-held|title=Een zeer humane held |website=De Groene Amsterdammer|access-date=14 June 2020|language=nl}}</ref> Many more novels, essays and poems followed.
He also worked as a playwright and as a translator of foreign literature into Dutch. His musical works were shown in the silent film ''Rain'' (1929) by Joris Ivens, which appeared in 1932 as a sound version with a score composed by ''Helman film music''.<ref name="Albert Helman">{{cite web |url=http://www.vijfeeuwenmigratie.nl/verhalen/albert-helman-eeuwige-migrant |title=Albert Helman: De eeuwige migrant|author=Michiel van Kempen |date=27 November 2010 |publisher= Vijfeeuwenmigratie.nl |accessdate=|language=nl}}</ref> In 1931, he published a play based on the third voyage of Willem Barentsz.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kunstbus.nl/literair/albert+helman.html |title=Play about Willem Barentsz |author= |date= |publisher= |accessdate= }}</ref>
===Spain=== In 1932, Lichtveld moved to Spain. Here he fought on the side of the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War against the fascists under General Francisco Franco.<ref name="auteurs"/> For the papers ''NRC Handelsblad'' and ''De Groene Amsterdammer'', he wrote articles about the civil war. After Franco's victory, Lichtveld fled to North Africa in 1938, from there to Mexico and finally returned to the Netherlands in 1939.<ref name="Albert Helman"/>
===Resistance=== In the Netherlands, he was mainly concerned with the fate of the Jews who had fled Germany. In 1940, he wrote on behalf of the ''Comité voor Bijzondere Joodse Belangen'' ("Committee for Special Jewish Interests") the book ''Millioenen-leed'' ("Millions of Suffering").<ref name="millioenen">{{cite web|url=https://werkgroepcaraibischeletteren.nl/helmans-millioenen-leed-gedigitaliseerd/|title=Helmans Millioenen-leed gedigitaliseerd|website=Werkgroep Caraibische Letteren|language=nl|access-date=20 June 2020}}</ref>
After the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940, Lichtveld went into hiding, because he could no longer appear in public as a known anti-fascist.<ref name="vpro"/> In the resistance, he was active as a forger of personal documents and as a writer of resistance slogans. He also wrote for the illegal paper ''Vrije Kunstenaar'' ("Free Artist"). During the occupation, he wrote under the pseudonyms ''Joost van den Vondel'', ''Friedrich W. Nietzsche'', ''Hypertonides'' and ''Nico Slob''.<ref>[http://www.schrijversinfo.nl/helmanalbert.html Albert Helman, Schrijversinfo.nl]</ref> In addition, he became a member of the ''Grote Raad van de Illegaliteit'' ("Great Council of Illegality")<ref name="illegaliteit">[http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/flor007tenh14_01/flor007tenh14_01_0003.php Interview door Joos Florquin in 'Ten huize van..' Davidsfonds, Leuven 1978 via DBNL]</ref> whose mission it was to advice the Dutch government-in-exile in London.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ensie.nl/betekenis/adviescommissie-der-illegaliteit-grote|title=Wat is de betekenis van Adviescommissie der Illegaliteit, Grote?|website=Lexicon Nederland en België via Ensie|access-date=29 June 2020|language=nl}}</ref>
After the war he was appointed as one of the members of the Emergency Parliament which was established to govern the Netherlands in preparation of free elections.<ref name="emergency">{{cite web|url=https://www.bevrijdingintercultureel.nl/bi/suriname.html#licht|title=Lou Lichtveld (Albert Helman)|website=Bevrijding Intercultureel|access-date=29 June 2020|language=nl}}</ref>
===Public Offices=== thumb|Lou Lichtveld in 1955 In 1949, Lichtveld returned to his native Suriname, where he was the Minister of Education and National Development and Minister of Health until 1951.<ref name="auteurs"/> The government fell over the Hospital Question in which Lichtveld had fired doctor Henk van Ommeren over alleged irregularities which were later proven false.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.suriname.nu/surinamenu/knowledge-base/hospitaalkwestie/|title=Hospitaalkwestie|website=Suriname.nu|access-date=29 June 2020|language=nl}}</ref> After his resignation as Minister, he still held various other offices. He was chairman of the Court of Audit of Suriname and director of the office folk reading.<ref name="vpro">{{cite web|url=https://www.vpro.nl/programmas/marathoninterview/luister/overzicht/h/albert-helman.html|title=VPRO Marathon Interview|website=VPRO Television|date=28 July 1989 |access-date=20 June 2020|language=nl}}</ref> In 1961, he was appointed to the Dutch Embassy in Washington, D.C. Here, he was part of the delegation of the Kingdom to the United Nations, which was specifically concerned with the perception of Surinamese interests.<ref name="vpro"/>
After retiring, he settled on Tobago, later in Airole and finally in Amsterdam, where he died at the age of 92 years.<ref name="Albert Helman"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.dbnl.org/auteurs/auteur.php?id=helm003 Albert Helman at the Digital Library for Dutch Literature] (in Dutch ''Zuid-Zuid-West'', ''Millioenen-leed'', and many more available for free download)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lichtveld, Lou}} Category:1903 births Category:1996 deaths Category:20th-century poets Category:20th-century dramatists and playwrights Category:Dutch people of the Spanish Civil War Category:Dutch resistance members Category:Education ministers of Suriname Category:Health ministers of Suriname Category:Male dramatists and playwrights Category:Male poets Category:National Party of Suriname politicians Category:Politicians from Paramaribo Category:Writers from Paramaribo Category:Surinamese journalists Category:Surinamese male writers Category:20th-century Surinamese musicians Category:Surinamese poets Category:20th-century male writers Category:20th-century journalists