Celeste Johannes

(Curacao, 1972) since 1994 has lived in the Netherlands, where she studied business administration at the Erasmus University. Already during her student days she was active in the Antillean community. In 1998 she was the co-organisator of the symposium De Nederlandse Antillen en Aruba op weg naar het nieuwe millennium”, (The Netherlands Antilles and Aruba on their way towards a new millenium), where the prime minister at that time, Mrs. Suzanne Camelia-Römer, was one of the speakers. Since 2002 Celeste Johannes is chairwoman of the foundation Splika, which promotes language, literature and culture of the Leeward Islands. This foundation's goal is to promote the Antillean language, literature and culture in the Netherlands, and within the Antillean community help research and promote their own identity.