Johannes King

birth_place = near plantation Haarlem and Maho, Kampong Baroe, Suriname death_date = death_place = Maripaston, Bigi Poika, Suriname death_cause = occupation = writer, missionary other_names = notable_works = education = relatives = signature = website = footnotes =

Johannes King (born: Adiri circa 1830 - 24 October 1898), was the first Maroon missionary, and the first important writer in Sranan Tongo. King belonged to the Matawai tribe,

Biography Adiri was born as a son of granman (paramount chief) Kodjo of the Matawai, In 1855, Adiri started to receive visions: a strange god pointed at an alien religion, told him to go to the city, and be baptized. Once again he didn't stay long, but when he returned home, he started to build a church in Maripaston. In 1864, he was sent to the Ndyuka for a dual purpose: The Moravian Church had up to then been unable to reach the Ndyuka, and the Matawai wanted to make a peace treaty with the Ndyuka. In 1864, King published a book about the visit in Sranan Tongo.

Author During 1864 and 1865, King wrote and published over 1,000 pages on his visits to various tribes. In 1973, the dairies of Johannes King were published in Sranan Tongo as Life at Maripaston with summary in English by Henri Frans de Ziel.