Pierre Lauffer

Who is Pierre Lauffer?

Pierre Antoine Lauffer, born on Curaçao on 22 August 1920, is regarded as one of the greatest poets the island has produced and a pioneer in establishing Papiamentu as a serious literary language. After finishing school in 1936 he worked as a civil servant, a military policeman, and even an undertaker, writing stories and poetry on the side. His first Papiamentu poetry collection, Patria, appeared in 1944, followed in 1955 by Kumbu, considered the first work of modernist Papiamentu poetry for its emphasis on the emotional weight of individual words. His 1964 collection Kantika pa Bientu won a prize from the Cultural Centre Curaçao, and he went on to receive the Cultural Centre's Literary Prize in 1963, the Cola Debrot Prize in 1969, and the Sticusa Prize in 1975. Because Papiamentu-language books found only a limited market, Lauffer supported himself for much of his life as a teacher, first of English and later of Papiamentu itself at the Pedagogical Academy. In his later years he wrote children's books in Papiamentu, believing young readers were being neglected by the small number of writers working in the language. The Fundashon Pierre Lauffer, established in his honor in 1981, continues to promote Papiamentu, and a biennial literary prize bears his name.

Sources: Wikipedia, "Pierre Lauffer" · Fundashon Pierre Lauffer, institutional history · Writers Unlimited, "Pierre Lauffer Ensemble"