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Boeginees's Biography
Boeginees was born in the city Makassar on the Indonesian island Celebes on August 20th 1930. Her mother, Jeanne Sophie Jacqueline Versteeg, and her father, Joseph Adolf Gagliardi, had 6 children together. Her father was head of the freight department of KPM (Koninklijke Pakketvaart Maatschappij), a large shipping firm, in Jakarta.
She stayed in Makassar approximately one year, after which she moved with her family to the island of Flores in the city of Ende and the island of Java in the cities of Jakarta, Bogor (Buitenzorg), Bandung and Semarang.
On april 6th 1947, at the age of 16, she emigrated to Holland where she joined the MARVA or Dutch women's army and worked as a telegraphist. She met my father Sijmen Bergakker who was in the Dutch Navy training to become a pilot during that time. They were married on October 17th 1952. The marriage brought forth 4 children and lasted until he died of leukemia on January 28th 1994.
When asked at which age she started writing poetry, she said around 18. Boeginees is still writing today at the age of 68 and intends to publish another book featuring both poetry and short stories in the near future.
In 1956 she wrote poetry for the Navy for a magazine in Biak in Nieuw Guinea where my father was assigned to a bomber squardron as Navy pilot.
From 1964-1967 Boeginees wrote for the newspaper De Nickeriaan in Suriname.
During that time she was also board member of the Cultural Centrum of Nickerie.
In 1966 Boeginees was also presenting a radio program "Radio Rani Kinderkoor" for the Radika radiostation in Nickerie, Suriname.
In 1969 her first book of verse "Glimlach van Suriname" was published, containing much of the same kind of poetry about Suriname which reflects her love for this country and its people. She explained that the name of the city "Nickerie" actually means: Glimlach van Suriname (Smile of Suriname).
The publication of this book was done with the help of Dr. S. Ritfeld and sold by The Lionsclub of Nickerie.
The illustrations in that book were done by a Nickerian named Hans Lie.
In 1995 Ambassador Campbell asked her to write down her impressions in the Embassy's newspaper, wich she did while vacationing in Suriname.
Boeginees has also written for De Ware Tijd. In 1996 a story titled Emancipation was published in that Surinamese newspaper.
Some of her work was also published in the poetry collection of Mr. van de Pol.
Boeginees also published short stories in Het Beste (the Dutch version of Readers Digest) and Mijn Geheim (a Dutch magazine).
Boeginees, Ellen J. Bergakker, passed away on March 16th 2007. A fatal heart attack ended the story teller's ever blossoming writing career and life. We will truly miss her!.
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