A tribute to my grandmother's cousin

Pater Antoon Donicie

 

A cousin of my grandmother (she was from Breda, the Netherlands) was a Catholic Missionary ("Redemptoristen", C.ss.R; see http://www.cssr.com.br) in the Jungle of Suriname his whole life long and was burried there.

He used to delight his family with exotic stories that happened to him as he came back every year in Belgium to stay at my mother's house for a few days before leaving back for Suriname.

His name was Pater Antoon Donicie, a "taalkundige" and "cultuurvorser".

He, along with five other persons, determined the right spelling of Sranan Tongo, as a member of the "spelling commission for Sranan" set up by the Surinam Government in January 1960. -See : "Preface to the First Edition of 1961" in "Woordenlijst/Wordlist Sranan-Nederlands Nederlands-Sranan/English-Sranan, met een lijst van planten-en dierennamen/with a list of plant and animal names." This book was made in close-cooperation with this commission.

He authored some great books :

 

• "DONICIE, A. & W.CAMPAGNE, PH. VAN DAAL, F. LANSDORF, R. SAMSON, R. SLOOTE(contribs.), De Creolentaal van Suriname. Spraakkunst. 3rd. edn.Paramaribo, 1967. Orig.lettered wraps. 152pp. footnotes. WITH: the so-called "bijlage"(supplement): A Lukuman-de Waarzegger, loosely insteted, wraps. 11pp., footnotes & erratum tipped-in at tail of p.6. stapled.  
  An important grammar of the Creole-language of Surinam (West Indies), with the loosely added supplement in creale language with transcription, being a story by A. Lumuman, a fortune-teller, compiled by a roman-catholic missionary (C.ss.R) who worked for an extended time in the area. Rare.(some small stains alongside spine of upper wrap, large stain on lower wrap, recto/verso, with offsetting to margin of pp.150-152)."

http://www.antiquariaten.com/gemilang/catalogs/c00090.htm

 

• "-Donicie, Antoon & Voorhoeve, Jan  1961  De Saramakaanse Woordenschat. Amsterdam: Bureau voor Taalonderzoek in Surinames van de Universiteit van Amsterdam."

http://www.battlebridge.com/Books/Dictionaries&grammars.htm

 

• "BIBLIOGRAPHIE DU NÉGRO-ANGLAIS DU SURINAM : AVEC UNE APPENDICE SUR LES LANGUES CRÉOLES PARLÉES À L'INTÉRIEUR DU PAYS / Jan Voohoeve et Antoon Donicie.
  's-Gravenhage : M. Nijhoff, 1963 -- 115 p. (Bibliographical series / Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde ; no. 6)"

http://www.geocities.com/surinamegenweb/books.html

 

• "Groot A.De & A.Donici ONDROFENI SA LERI JU TORI'S vertellingen in het neger-engels met vertaling in het nederlands Varekamp Paramaribo"

http://members.lycos.nl/WoutsBooks/kol.html

 

• "-KEES NEER, ps (1916). Werkte in het onderwijs op veel plaatsen in het binnenland. Stond in nauw contact met taalkundige en cultuurvorser Antoon Donicie. In 1957 vertrok hij naar Nederland. Zijn enige roman Viottoe (1949) speelt onder de Saramacaners en is besproken in hoofdstuk 10."

http://www.educons.sr/Studinet/WorldwideCollege/ProfielD.htm

(C.ss.R) Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris

By the way, if some people reading this have known him I would be very thankful to hear from you!