| Antoine de Kom | |
| Other Names: | Raymond Sarucco[1] |
| Birth Name: | Antoine Adrianus Raymondus de Kom |
| Birth Date: | 13 August 1956 |
| Birth Place: | The Hague, Netherlands |
| Nationality: | Dutch |
| Occupation: | Psychiatrist, author, poet |
| Notable Works: | Ritmisch zonder string (2013), Het misdadige brein (2012) |
Antoine Adrianus Raymondus de Kom (The Hague, 13 Augustus 1956) is a Dutch psychiatrist, writer and poet of Surinamese descent.
His grandfather was Anton de Kom, the famous Surinamese resistance fighter and anti-colonialist.[1] In 1966 the family moved to Paramaribo, Suriname, where he spend his formative years.[1] In 1971, de Kom studied medicine at the University of Amsterdam after which he specialised in psychiatry. He started his career as a forensic psychiatrist at the Pieter Baan Centre.[2]
In 1981, he made his debut under the pseudonym Raymond Sarucco with Palmen in the magazine De Gids.[1] [3] The poems expressed de Kom's connection to the Caribbean and his fascination for their past and present.[1] His first collection Tropen (1991) was nominated for the C. Buddingh'-prijs.[4]
As a forensic psychiatrist, de Kom published Het misdadige brein: over het kwaad in onszelf (2012) in which he described fictitious conversations with historic criminals and despots.[2]
In 2013, Antoine de Kom gave the third Cola Debrot Lecture about slavery.[5] In 2014, Antoine de Kom was awarded VSB Poetry Prize for Ritmisch zonder string (2013).[6] When asked whether de Kom considered his writings Surinamese literature, de Kom replied that he could not answer that; he is just as much an outcast as his grandfather.[7]