{{Short description|Surinamese diplomat and lawyer}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Raymond Pos | image = File:Raymond Henri Pos.jpg | alt = | caption = Raymond Pos (1954) | office = Ambassador of the Netherlands to Cuba | term_start = July 1963 | term_end = 5 November 1964 | office2 = Minister Plenipotentiary of Suriname | term_start2 = 29 December 1954 | term_end2 = 1 August 1963 | predecessor2 = ''position established'' | successor2 = Severinus Emanuels | birth_name = Raymond Henri Pos | birth_date = {{birth date|1910|3|9|df=yes}} | birth_place = Paramaribo, Surinam | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1964|11|5|1910|3|9}} | death_place = Willemstad, Curaçao | other_names = | occupation = diplomat, lawyer | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | party = Independent<ref name="haarlem"/> }} '''Raymond Henri Pos''' (9 March 1910 – 5 November 1964) was a Surinamese diplomat and lawyer. He was the first Minister Plenipotentiary of Suriname from 29 December 1954 until 1 August 1963. Subsequently, he was appointed Dutch Ambassador of Cuba.<ref name="parlement">{{cite web |url=https://www.parlement.com/id/vg09llzb6k02/r_h_pos |title=Dr. R.H. Pos |website=Parlement.com|access-date=20 December 2021 |language=nl}}</ref> Pos played a major role in the creation of the 1954 Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands which established the political relationship between the Netherlands and its former colonies.
==Biography== Pos was born on 9 March 1910 in a Jewish family who had been living in Suriname for generations.<ref name="haarlem">{{cite news |url=https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/view?coll=ddd&identifier=MMNHA03:179288035:mpeg21:a00085&resultsidentifier=MMNHA03:179288035:mpeg21:a00085&rowid=6 |title=Naar diplomatieke post |work=Nieuwe Haarlemsche courant |via=Delpher |date=13 May 1963|access-date=20 December 2021|language=nl}}</ref> He left Suriname for the Netherlands to study at the grammar school in Alkmaar and studied law at Leiden University.<ref name="haarlem"/> He was promoted in 1939 for his thesis "Evenredige vertegenwoordiging en volksvertegenwoordiging" ("Proportional representation and people's representation").<ref>{{cite book |title=Evenredige vertegenwoordiging en volksvertegenwoordiging |oclc=45241462 }}</ref>
Pos returned to Suriname, and worked for the Justice Department. He was promoted deputy attorney general in 1942.<ref name="haarlem"/><ref name="tubantia">{{cite news|url=https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/view?coll=ddd&identifier=MMHCO02:163823015:mpeg21:a00222&resultsidentifier=MMHCO02:163823015:mpeg21:a00222&rowid=2 |title=Ambassadeur Pos overleden|website=Tubantia |via=Delpher |date=6 November 1964 |language=nl |access-date=20 December 2021}}</ref> In November 1947, Pos was appointed representative for Suriname in the Netherlands. A better representation was needed, and in January 1949, Henry Lucien de Vries succeeded him as commissioner.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.starnieuws.com/index.php/welcome/index/nieuwsitem/61763 |title=Kennen beleidsmakers onze diplomatieke geschiedenis? |website=Star Nieuws|access-date=20 December 2021|language=nl}}</ref> In 1953, Pos was appointed Chairman of the Suriname delegation to the Second Round Table Conference in The Hague to establish a new relation between the Netherlands and its former colonies.<ref name="haarlem"/> He would become one of the main authors of the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands in which Suriname became a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.<ref name="haarlem"/><ref name="parlement"/>
On 29 December 1954, Pos was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary of Suriname, and served until 1 August 1963.<ref name="parlement"/> In July 1963, he was appointed Ambassador of the Netherlands to Cuba with an accreditation for Haiti.<ref name="parlement"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/view?coll=ddd&identifier=ddd:010873449:mpeg21:a0005&resultsidentifier=ddd:010873449:mpeg21:a0005&rowid=1 |title=Dr. Pos ambassadeur op Cuba|website=Nieuw Israelietisch weekblad |via=Delpher |date=26 July 1963 |access-date=20 December 2021 |language=nl}}</ref>
In 1964, the Estates of Suriname nominated Pos as Governor-General to replace Currie. The nomination was returned by the States General of the Netherlands, because it only contained one name.<ref name="vries">{{cite news|url=https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/view?coll=ddd&identifier=ABCDDD:010835295:mpeg21:a0157&resultsidentifier=ABCDDD:010835295:mpeg21:a0157&rowid=2 |title=Mr. H.L. de Vries Surinames gouverneur |website=Het Parool |via=Delpher |date=20 January 1965 |access-date=20 December 2021 |language=nl}}</ref> On 29 October 1964, he was present on a Netherlands Antilles ambassador reception in Bonaire. During the reception, he became unwell, and was taken to hospital in Willemstad, Curaçao. Pos died on 5 November 1964, at the age of 54.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://leiden.courant.nu/issue/LD/1964-11-06/edition/0/page/11 |title=Mr. dr. R.H Pos op Curaçao overleden|website=Leidsch Dagblad |date=6 November 1964|page=11|access-date=20 December 2021 |language=nl}}</ref>
==Family== Raymond Pos was the older brother of the judge and author Hugo Pos.<ref name="oog">{{cite book|url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/wall006oogb01_01/wall006oogb01_01_0014.php |title=Een oog boven Paramaribo |year=1975 |author=J. van de Walle |language=nl |location=Amsterdam |publisher=Em. Querido |page=114 |isbn=9021414007}}</ref>
In 1951, he married Elizabeth Wakkie, former editor of ''Het Vaderland'', in the Hague.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/view?query=pos+wakkie&coll=ddd&identifier=ddd:010402500:mpeg21:a0073&resultsidentifier=ddd:010402500:mpeg21:a0073&rowid=2 |title=Mr. Dr. Pos trad in huwelijk|website=Amigoe di Curacao |via=Delpher |access-date=20 December 2021 |language=nl |date=2 November 1951}}</ref>
==Honours== *Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau.<ref name="obit">{{cite news |url=https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/view?coll=ddd&identifier=ABCDDD:010835500:mpeg21:a0210&resultsidentifier=ABCDDD:010835500:mpeg21:a0210&rowid=1 |title=Obituary|website=Het Parool |via=Delpher |date=6 November 1964 |language=nl |access-date=20 December 2021}}</ref> *Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.<ref name="obit"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pos, Raymond}} Category:1910 births Category:1964 deaths Category:People from Paramaribo Category:Ambassadors of the Netherlands to Cuba Category:Dutch expatriates in Cuba Category:Government ministers of Suriname Category:20th-century Surinamese lawyers Category:Surinamese Jews Category:Leiden University alumni Category:Ministers plenipotentiary (Suriname) Category:Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Category:Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion