Anil Ramdas

Dutch-Surinamese journalist

Anil Ramdas

Born	(1958-02-16)16 February 1958 Paramaribo, Suriname
Died	16 February 2012(2012-02-16) (aged 54) Loenen aan de Vecht, Netherlands
Occupation(s)	Columnist, correspondent, journalist, television presenter, writer, essayist

Anil Ramdas (Paramaribo, 16 February 1958 – Loenen aan de Vecht, 16 February 2012) was a Dutch-Surinamese columnist, correspondent, essayist, journalist, and TV and radio host.^[1]^[2] He was generally considered the V.S. Naipaul specialist of The Netherlands.^[3]

His work has been extensively studied by the author Karin Amatmoekrim.^[4]^[5]

In 1997 he was awarded the E. du Perron prize for all of his works.^[6]

Works

Fiction

Anil Ramdas published his autobiographical novel Badal in February 2011. In the article "A Matter of Identity: Anil Ramdas and His Autobiographical Novel Badal", Kees Snoek writes :

The novel Badal explores the evolution of the main character against the background of the confrontation between western and non-western civilisation. One of the examples Badal uses to make his point is Christopher Columbus: when during his journey into the unknown the supplies aboard his ship diminish, he has to make a decision: to turn back or to continue with his exploration. He decides to go on. It is the point of no return.^[7]

Death

Ramdas committed suicide on 16 February 2012.^[8] Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte expressed his regret about Ramdas' death in his weekly press conference.^[9]^[10]

References

^ "Multicultural Netherlands: Anil Ramdas." Dutch Studies Program, UC Berkeley. Retrieved 1 December 2011. "Anil Ramdas — Multicultural Netherlands". Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
^ "I Imagined the World Differently". Letterenfonds/. Dutch Foundation for Literature. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
^ Codfried, Egmond. "Badal, or the Suicide of a Reformed Housenigger". Werkgroepcaraibischeletteren. Caraïbische letteren. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
^ "Torch Global South Visiting Fellow". The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities. University of Oxford. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
^ "Anil Ramdas: Hope and Despair in Dutch Postcolonial Literature". The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities. University of Oxford. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
^ Literaire prijzen E. du Perron-prijs 1997 – Letterkundig Museum (in Dutch)
^ Snoek, Kees (2 January 2018). "A matter of identity: Anil Ramdas and his autobiographical novel Badal (2011)". Dutch Crossing. 42 (1): 13. doi:10.1080/03096564.2018.1419631. S2CID 148989034. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
^ Journalist en schrijver Anil Ramdas (54) overleden – NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch)
^ NOS website vrijdag 17 februari 2012, 15:49. Retrieved 2 July 2013
^ "Journalist and TV presenter Anil Ramdas dies". Expatica. Expatica Communications B.V. Retrieved 27 December 2021.