Johannes Helstone
Surinamese composer (1853–1927)
Johannes Helstone, born Nicodemus Johannes Helstone (11 January 1853 – 24 April 1927), was a Surinamese composer, pianist and writer. He is best known for his 1906 opera Het Pand der Goden.
Biography
Helstone was born on the Moravian mission Berg en Dal on 11 January 1853 to Proserpina Ulm and Doris Nicolaas Helstone. He was born enslaved and was granted freedom at age ten, when the Dutch abolished slavery. He was named Nicodemus Johannes Helstone, but used the name Johannes or Johannes Nicolaas. At the age of 14, he was sent to Paramaribo for a teaching degree. His musical talents were noted by Heinrich Williger, the head teacher, who arranged that he could continue his studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music of Leipzig. He followed piano theory and composition under Alfred Richter, the son of Ernst Richter. In 1894, Helstone graduated cum laude.
In 1891, he married Remiline ('Millie') Uckerman, a Surinamese sopranist and piano teacher.
The public source identifies “Johannes Helstone” as surinamese composer (1853–1927). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Johannes, Helstone and Surinamese.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1698087. VIAF identifies the subject as 258862213. The Library of Congress control number is n2025009659. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1853, 1927, 1906 and 1894.
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This entry incorporates text from “Johannes Helstone” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.