Eersel was born in Paramaribo on 9 June 1922.[1] He passed the assistant teacher certification exam in 1942,[4] and the head teacher certification exam in 1949.[5] In 1950, he traveled to the Netherlands, where he studied Dutch language and literature at the University of Amsterdam.[6] He completed his candidate diploma in 1956,[7] then a doctorandus.[1] While in Amsterdam, he joined the organisation Wie Eegie Sanie (our own things), founded by Surinamese students to promote the Sranan Tongo language and Surinamese culture.[8]
Eersel returned to Suriname in 1959, and began teaching at the Suriname Kweekschool [nl] (teacher training college).[9] He later helped to establish the Institute for Teacher Training in Paramaribo.[10] He was director of the Taalbureau (language bureau) and the Bureau Volkslectuur (public literacy bureau) from 1960 to 1969.[11]
In 1968, he became the first chancellor of the University of Suriname, and was also a lecturer in linguistics until his retirement in 1988.[11] He worked with Max Sordam to publish a full dictionary of Sranan Tongo in 1985.[12] After his retirement, he would visit the Netherlands to teach Sranan Tongo classes.[10]
Eersel remained active with the Surinamese creole cultural association NAKS as of 2020, leading the Sranan Grammar Group.[13]
Eersel wrote a stage adaptation of Beaumarchais' The Barber of Seville, which opened at the Thalia Theatre in Paramaribo in 1960. While Noni Lichtveld's costumes and staging kept the original setting in 18th-century Spain, Eersel adapted some of the jokes and figures of speech for the local audience. A newspaper review noted that Eersel "put a few genuine Surinamese expressions in the mouth of our barber".[19]
Eersel received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Suriname in 2003. He also received the Gazon Matodya Award, conferred by the Maroon-focused Sabanapenti Foundation, in 2009.[3] In 2013, he was made a Grand Officer of the Honorary Order of the Palm.[22]
At the suggestion of the Henri Frans de Ziel Foundation, the Gemenelandsweg street in Paramaribo was renamed in Eersel's honour after a 2019 extension.[23]
On his 100th birthday, minister Marie Levens of Education, Science and Culture announced the foundation of the Hein Eersel Institute. The Institute's focus will be developing professional approaches to multilingual education in Suriname.[2]
Eersel, Ch.H. (1991). "Bijbelvertalingen in het Sranan". OSO. 10: 48–56.
Libi naga bribi : enkele aanzetten tot Surinaamse theologie : feestbundel ter ere van Hein Eersel, Nijmegen, Nijmeegs Instituut voor Missiologie, 2002.
