Cornelis Gerhard Anton de Kom (22 February 1898 – 24 April 1945[a]) was a Surinamese resistance fighter and anti-colonialist author.

[6] In 2020, de Kom was added as a subject on the Canon of the Netherlands, a chronological list of fifty key events and people in Dutch history to be taught in schools.

He then became a sales representative selling coffee, tea and tobacco for a company in The Hague, where he met his future wife, Nel.

Large groups used to gather around the house, because de Kom was helping Javanese and Indians with their re-emigration.

[3] On 1 February, he was arrested while en route to the office of governor Bram Rutgers with a large group of followers.

[4] On both 3 and 4 February, his followers gathered in front of the Attorney General's office to demand De Kom's release.

[12] De Kom was inspired by Albert Helman's Zuid-Zuid-West (1926) which ended with a fierce anti-colonial epilogue.

[5][b] Contact Publishers [nl] was pressured not to release the book, and the Centrale Inlichtingendienst (secret service) demanded and was given a preliminary copy in violation of the freedom of press.

[5] In 1988, the Surinamese Worker and Unemployed Organisation (SAWO) submitted a motion with the municipality of Amsterdam to name a square after Anton de Kom.

[18] The square features a sculpture of Anton de Kom as a monument to his life and works, sculpted by Jikke van Loon.

The manuscripts contained the movie scenario Tjiboe, parts of the novels Ons bloed is rood and Om een hap rijst (For a bit of rice), and several Anansi-stories, a spider who represents skill and wisdom in folktales of the Akan people.

[23] A documentary film about him, Peace, Memories of Anton de Kom, by filmmaker Ida Does, was produced in 2012.

Ingrid van Engelshoven, Dutch Minister of Education, stressed that the shadow sides of society needed to be addressed as well.