Diana Lebacs
Diana Lebacs | |
---|---|
Born | Diana Melinda Lebacs 12 September 1947[1] |
Died | 11 July 2022 | (aged 74)
Nationality |
|
Occupation(s) | Writer, actress, educator |
Years active | 1971–2022 |
Diana Melinda Lebacs (12 September 1947 – 11 July 2022) was a
Early life
Diana Melinda Lebacs was born on 12 September 1947 in the Chere Asile neighborhood of
After Lebacs completed her primary education at the Philomena School,
Career
In May 1968, Lebacs' mother died. In August, she and her husband embarked on a six-month tour of western Europe. During their travels, she began to write a novel, Sherry—het begin van een begin (Sherry—The Beginning of the Beginning), a coming of age story of an Antillean girl. The novel delved into the socio-economic development of the islands[5] and the labor strikes which occurred in conjunction with anticolonial uprisings in Curaçao in 1969.[2] That summer, she sent the book to Leopold Publishing in The Hague and waited six months for their response. After agreeing to publish the novel and completing the edits they wanted, Lebacs enrolled in a two-year Papiamento literary course in 1970 to gain a better insight into the lingua franca of her homeland. She wanted to publish children's stories in the language spoken by children in the Dutch Antilles.[6]
In 1971, Sherry premiered and two years later was translated into
(Silver Stylus) award in 1976, the first time the honor had been given to a non-European author.Lebacs continued working on several fronts simultaneously throughout the 1980s and 1990s. She published children's fiction in Dutch and Papiamento, educational textbooks for elementary students, developed television programs about the Spanish and Dutch colonization history of Curacao, and acted in two films, Famia kibrá and Boka Sarantonio (Sarantonio Bay).[2][8] She also participated in community projects including book fairs, workshops to end violence against women, and programs to protect the environment.[2][9] In 1994, Lebacs published her first novel for adults, De langste maand (The Longest Month), which evaluates disparities in traditional local values and Westernized expectations.[2]
In 2003 Lebacs earned the inaugural Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Caribisch Gebied (PBCCG Cultuurprijs, Prince Bernhard Caribbean Cultural Fund Prize) for her book Caimin's geheim (Caimin's Secret) and in 2007 was honored as a Knight in the
Personal life
Lebacs and her husband Pacheco had two children.[2] Lebacs died from pancreatic cancer at a hospice in Willemstad on 11 July 2022 at the age of 74.[12][13] Pacheco had died in March 2022 at the age of 80.[14]
Partial bibliography
- Lebacs, Diana (1971). Sherry: het begin van een begin [Sherry, The Beginning of a Beginning] (in Dutch). The Hague, The Netherlands: Leopold. ISBN 90-258-3937-1.
- Lebacs, Diana (1975). Nancho van Bonaire [Nancho of Bonaire] (in Dutch). The Hague, The Netherlands: Leopold. OCLC 252457187.
- Lebacs, Diana (1976). Chinina-kome-Lubida (in Papiamento). Curaçao: Montero. OCLC 69338550.
- Lebacs, Diana (1977). Ken-ken pia di wesu (in Papiamento). Curaçao: Montero. OCLC 66361746.
- Lebacs, Diana (1977). Nancho Matroos [Nancho the Sailor] (in Dutch). The Hague, The Netherlands: Leopold. ISBN 978-9-025-83943-7.
- Lebacs, Diana (1979). Nancho Niemand [Nancho the Nobody] (in Dutch). The Hague, The Netherlands: Leopold. ISBN 978-9-025-83920-8.
- Lebacs, Diana (1982). Nancho Kapitein [Nancho the Captain] (in Dutch). The Hague, The Netherlands: Leopold. ISBN 978-9-025-83928-4.
- Lebacs, Diana (1983). Suikerriet Rosy [Sugarcane Rosy] (in Dutch). The Hague, The Netherlands: Leopold. ISBN 978-9-025-83930-7.
- Lebacs, Diana (1990). Lichten boven Klein Bonaire [Lights above Little Bonaire] (in Dutch). The Hague, The Netherlands: Leopold. ISBN 978-9-025-83959-8.
- Lebacs, Diana (1994). De langste maand [The Longest Month] (in Dutch). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: In de Knipscheer. ISBN 978-9-062-65388-1.
- Lebacs, Diana (2001). Caimin's geheim [Caimin's secret] (in Dutch). The Hague, The Netherlands: Leopold. ISBN 978-9-025-83488-3.
- Lebacs, Diana (2009). Waar is Olivier?/Unda Olivier ta? [Where is Olivier?] (in Dutch and Papiamento). Willemstad, Curaçao: Fundashon Editorial Sembra Buki. ISBN 978-9-990-41181-2.
- Lebacs, Diana (2014). Belumbe/De waterlijn [The Waterline] (in Dutch and Papiamento) (1st ed.). Haarlem, The Netherlands: In de Knipscheer. ISBN 978-90-6265-861-9.
- Lebacs, Diana (2016). Duizend leugens bruidstaart: roman [A thousand lies wedding cake] (in Dutch) (Eerste uitgave ed.). Haarlem, The Netherlands: In de Knipscheer. ISBN 978-90-6265-924-1.
References
Citations
- ^ "Diana Lebacs". Digital Library for Dutch Literature (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 December 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rodríguez 2016.
- ^ a b c d Rutgers 2007, p. 96.
- ^ Rutgers 2007, pp. 96–97.
- ^ a b Rutgers 2007, p. 97.
- ^ a b Rutgers 2007, p. 98.
- ^ Amigoe 1976, p. 3.
- ^ Rutgers 2007, p. 101-102.
- ^ a b Repeating Islands 2017.
- ^ "Historia". Arte di Palabra. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- ^ van Geemert 2015.
- ^ Drayer, Dick (13 July 2022). "Curaçaose auteur Diana Lebacs (74), 'strijder voor het Papiaments', overleden". Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 July 2022.
- ^ Redactie (12 July 2022). "Schrijfster en actrice Diana Lebacs (74) overleden". Curacao.nu (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 July 2022.
- ^ Drayer, Dick (23 March 2022). "Pacheco Domacassé (80) overleden op Curaçao". Bonaire.Nu (in Dutch). Retrieved 15 July 2022.
General and cited reference
- Rodríguez, Emilio Jorge (2016). "Lebacs, Diana (1947– ), fiction writer, actress, and playwright". In Knight, Franklin W.; Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (eds.). Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro–Latin American Biography. Oxford, England: ISBN 978-0-199-93580-2. – via Oxford University Press's Reference Online (subscription required)
- Rutgers, Wim (2007). "Hoofdstuk 5. Diana Lebacs". Bon dia! Met wie schrijfik? [Good Morning! Who do I write with? (Chapter 5. Diana Lebacs)] (PDF) (in Dutch) (2007, Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren ed.). Oranjestad, Aruba: Charuba. pp. 95–140. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 June 2016.
- van Geemert, Ko (21 April 2015). "Diana Lebacs in Nederland" [Diana Lebacs in the Netherlands]. Caraïbisch uitzicht (in Dutch). Leiden, The Netherlands: Werkgroep Caraïbische Letteren, Research Institute for History at Leiden University. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- "Curaçaoan Writers Featured at Havana's International Book Fair". Repeating Islands. Puerto Rico. 3 March 2017. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- "Onderscheiding voor kinderboek Diana Lebacs" [Award for children's book Diana Lebacs]. Amigoe (in Dutch). Willemstad, Curaçao. 21 June 1976. p. 3. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
External links
- Media related to Diana Lebacs at Wikimedia Commons