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The other side of Medardo “Dada” de Marchena

The publication of Medardo de Marchena; Staatsgevaarlijk in koloniaal Curaçao by Aart G. Broek has provided insight into the life and work of this passionate writer, poet, nationalist and activist. His fierce anti-colonial, anti-slavery stance conduced to his imprisonment on charges for propagating a subversive ideology and he spent the war years in an internment camp on Bonaire. De Marchena died on Bonaire on May 15, 1968.

Jesse E. Thode and the librarian Lianne Leonora, Mongui Maduro Foundation, Curaçao

A lesser-known fact about Medardo de Marchena is that he also wrote poetry and composed songs. His son Jesse Thode discovered the manuscripts after his father’s death and has kept them safe with him for many years while travelling around the world. Some of these 16 romantic poems and songs are about Bonaire and all are written during his stay in the internment camp in Bonaire.
The typed manuscripts have now been entrusted to Mongui Maduro Library where they are part of the cultural heritage collection and accessible for everyone interested in studying the softer side of Medardo de Marchena. Curious about Medardo de Marchena and or our collection? Contact the library: info@madurolibrary.org

from: Mongui Maduro Library Newsletter, November 2021 (front page of website, bottom, sign-up for the Newsletter).

One of the typed manuscripts from Thode’s collection; a forthcoming issue of the magazine Kristòf is to publish a number of De Marchena’s poems (‘Bienvenido’ nog being one of these).

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