Kodjo, Mentor en Present
† 1833
The three enslaved men who set fire to Paramaribo in 1832
On 3 September 1832, Kodjo, Mentor and Present set fire to a house on the Heerenstraat in Paramaribo as an act of resistance. The fire destroyed 46 properties. The three were publicly burnt at the stake in 1833 on Oranjeplein.
Kodjo (around 14), Mentor (around 19) and Present (around 17) were runaways — escaped enslaved people hiding in the forests around Paramaribo. On 3 September 1832 they set fire to a dwelling in order to strike at the hated colonial regime. The flames spread quickly and reduced a large part of the inner city to ashes.
After their arrest they were sentenced to death. On 26 January 1833 they were burnt alive on Oranjeplein — a punishment so cruel that even within colonial society it was considered excessive. Their names were only restored to history books in the 1960s.
Today Kodjo, Mentor and Present symbolise the quiet and stubborn resistance of the enslaved. A plaque on Oranjeplein in Paramaribo has commemorated their fate since 2017.
Sources
- Wim Hoogbergen — De Bosnegers zijn gekomen!
- Cynthia McLeod — De vrije negerin Elisabeth
- Nationaal Archief Suriname, dossier 1833/04