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Pierre Lauffer

Pierre Lauffer (22 August 1920 – 14 June 1981) was a Curaçaoan writer and poet who mainly wrote in Papiamentu. He is considered one of the greatest poets of Curaçao.^[1][3][4][5]

Lauffer was born on 22 August 1920 as Pierre Antoine Lauffer.^[1] He graduated from the Mulo (junior high school) in 1936, and started various jobs as a civil servant, a military policeman, and an undertaker. During this time, he was writing stories and poetry as a hobby.^[4] His first publication was a story in Dutch for the magazine De Stoep.^[6]

In 1944 Patria, his first poetry collection in Papiamentu, was published. It received a negative review from De Stoep who questioned the usefulness of a poetry book which a mere 100,000 people could read.^[7] In 1950, Lauffer co-founded the magazine Simadán written entirely in Papiamentu in order to compete with De Stoep.^[8] The magazine would only have three editions. In 1955, he published Kumbu^[7] with rhythmic poetry.^[4] It was the first publication of modernist poetry in Papiamentu with an emphasis on the emotional value of the words.^[9]

In 1964, Lauffer published Kantika pa Bientu for which he was awarded a prize by the Cultural Centre Curaçao.^[7] The publications were not a commercial success given the limited market,^[10] and in 1965, Lauffer became an English school teacher.^[4] At the age of 47, he fell in love with an 18-year-old woman, and married for the second time. The marriage didn't last, and his poetry became more melancholic.^[10] In 1969, Lauffer was awarded the Cola Debrot Prize for his poetry.^[11] In 1970, he became a Papiamentu teacher at the Pedagogical Academy.^[4]

In his later years, Lauffer started to write children's books in Papiamentu, because he felt that children were being neglected by the few Papiamentu writers.^[12] Lauffer died on 14 June 1981, at the age of 60.^[2]

On 16 July 1981, Fundashon Pierre Lauffer was established in his honour to promote Papiamentu. The Premio Bienal Pierre Lauffer is a biannual prize for people who have earned merits for the advancement of Papiamentu.^[13] In 1982, the Mgr Zwijssen College where Lauffer used to teach was renamed Kolegio Pierre Lauffer.^[14]