Veteran journalist passes on

PARAMARIBO:

Leo Morpurgo, retired veteran journalist and former editor-in-chief of Suriname's de Ware Tijd newspaper, died last Tuesday after a short illness. He was 89 years old.

While Morpurgo in his latter days struggled with a frail health, his death came as a shock to the media fraternity. Morpurgo was at the helm of de Ware Tijd from 1961 until his retirement in 1996.

Fellow editor-in-chief George Findlay of newspaper De West calls Morpurgo an example for journalists.

"Someone from the old school, to whom many went for advice," Findlay told de Ware Tijd.

As editor-in-chief at de Ware Tijd, Morpurgo transformed newspaper reporting in Suriname by introducing independent reporting and sharp criticism of governments, their institutions, public officers and social ills in the country.