Wilhelmina Rijburg ("Maxi Linder")
1902 – 1981
Iconic nightlife figure and pioneer of female autonomy in colonial Paramaribo
Between 1930 and 1960 Maxi Linder built her own venue in Paramaribo where women worked independently — an unorthodox form of self-determination in a strongly colonial-patriarchal society.
Wilhelmina Angelica Adriana Rijburg, popularly known as Maxi Linder, was born in 1902 in Paramaribo. She grew up in poverty and chose a life outside strict colonial morality. She herself financed a large house in the Saramaccastraat and offered women shelter and work in a way that gave them autonomy — not exploitation.
She was famous for her elegance, her generosity (paying schooling, hospital bills and funerals for the poor) and her public appearances as 'queen' of Paramaribo nightlife. In 1981 she was murdered in her own house. The Maxi Linder Association in Suriname still works for the rights of sex workers.
Sources
- Carla Bakboord — Maxi Linder, een biografie