Tonia Stieltjes plein

On Thursday evening, 25 September, Stichting Over de Brug organised a special edition of Talkshow Oostenburg in the Buurtkamer, in collaboration with Stadgenoot.

The evening focused entirely on the new name of the neighbourhood’s future meeting place: Tonia Stieltjes plein.

The programme explored the background of this remarkable woman in depth.
A small exhibition also opened, featuring portraits of Tonia by various artists.

Tonia Stieltjes was born in 1881 on Czaar Peterstraat as the first child of a Surinamese brewer and an Amsterdam domestic worker.
She grew up on Kattenburg, at the time a highly multicultural neighbourhood.

Tonia became known as a model for painter Jan Sluijters and as a close friend of Piet Mondriaan.
Above all, she is remembered as the first and only woman of colour to serve as a trade union leader in the Netherlands.

Speakers

• Esther Schreuder
  Biographer of Tonia Stieltjes, author of “Tonia Stieltjes. Activist, Model and Doctor of Willpower”, and curator of the exhibition “Tonia. Model and Activist” at the Singer Museum in Laren.

• Annemarie de Wildt
  Emeritus curator at the Amsterdam Museum, (co-)author of, among others, Guide to Amsterdam’s Slavery Past (2014) and Guide to Curaçao’s Slavery Past (2025), and member of the Advisory Council on the Naming of Public Spaces (ANOR).

The evening concluded with Egbert Dekker, Director of Real Estate & Development at Stadgenoot, and Lotte Terwel, district manager for Amsterdam-Centre.
They presented the first nameplate for the new square to Lex Gründeman, who submitted the name proposal on behalf of Over de Brug.

The exhibition remained on display in the Buurtkamer for one month.
Biographer Esther Schreuder also gave a lecture during Burendag Oostelijke Eilanden on Sunday, 28 September, at De Witte Boei.