Mia Tehupeiory skated the Elfstedentocht
in 1941, 1942 and 1947
Mia Tehupeiory (104 years old) died December 14, 2021
Before she died, she visited the bridge where she is eternalized as one of the persons who finished the elfstedentocht. The picture shows how proud she still is of her skating results. Probably she is the only woman form an Ambonese family who participated three times in this 200km skating tour with success.
Her father
Willem Karel Tehupeiory was born on the Indonesian island, Ambon in 1883. He got a degree as medical doctor in Batavia and came in 1907 for further studies to The Netherlands. In 1909 he received his Netherlands Medical diplomaand returned to Dutch East Indies married with Anna Ommering. From 1910 - 1916 he worked as European medicus for tin-mining company in Blinjoe on the island Banka. There their son Jaap and a daughter who tragically died two years old of an unidentified tropical deseaese.
Willem Karel Tehupeiory was born on the Indonesian island, Ambon in 1883. He got a degree as medical doctor in Batavia and came in 1907 for further studies to The Netherlands. In 1909 he received his Netherlands Medical diplomaand returned to Dutch East Indies married with Anna Ommering. From 1910 - 1916 he worked as European medicus for tin-mining company in Blinjoe on the island Banka. There their son Jaap and a daughter who tragically died two years old of an unidentified tropical deseaese.
In the Netherlands
He returned to The Netherlands on European leave and lived from 1916 – 1922 with his wife and son in Amsterdam. He completed the work for his chosen specialities in eye, ear and thoat surgeries at the Wilhelmina Gasthuis in Amsterdam . There, in 1917, their daughter Mia, officially called Marie Josine was born.
Her father was very active in The Netherlands to promote facilities for Ambonese and Indonesian people. He supported also publicly the transformation of the School (STOVIA) where he was educated as medicus to be transformed in a university. The picture shows that they had a pleasant life in the Dutch way.
He returned to The Netherlands on European leave and lived from 1916 – 1922 with his wife and son in Amsterdam. He completed the work for his chosen specialities in eye, ear and thoat surgeries at the Wilhelmina Gasthuis in Amsterdam . There, in 1917, their daughter Mia, officially called Marie Josine was born.
Her father was very active in The Netherlands to promote facilities for Ambonese and Indonesian people. He supported also publicly the transformation of the School (STOVIA) where he was educated as medicus to be transformed in a university. The picture shows that they had a pleasant life in the Dutch way.
In 1922, when he went back to Indonesia, he settled in Batavia (Jakarta). He worked there as medicus and was member of different political committees. The plan was that the family would come to Batavia as well. He bought a big house for the family in Batavia but because of the financial crisis they could not come before their children had to go to the secondary school. they decided Therefore, they decided that they should stay in The Netherlands. He died in 1946 in Indonesia.
Both children went after the primary school to a secondary school for higher education (HBS).
Both children went after the primary school to a secondary school for higher education (HBS).
At that school they got involved in sport. Her brother got at the University especially a lot of attention as a very good rower of Nereus. Mia was very active in hockey and was at some point in time the captain of the female hockey team of the Hockey club Amsterdam. At that time, It was still rather unusual for women to play hockey. She especially liked skating very much. In that way she collected a lot of medals which she saved. But the nicest ones were certainly the medals for the most famous skating tour in The Netherlands, the 200 km long Eleven cities tour.
The Elfstedentocht 1941
The first time Mia participated in the Elfstedentocht was 1941. At that time she was 24 years old. This tour has been described was a relative easy. It was not very cold, the ice was good and the wind was not that strong. Therefore, of the 1900 skaters participated in the tour, 1672 finished the tour. There is no information how many women participated but one can assume that there were only very few women. One of them was Mia Tehupeiory of half Ambonese origin.
If the ice is rather good one can skate without much risk behind each other. That is of course easier that skating alone, especially against the mind. Nevertheless, one has to skate 200 km and that means that one need at least 10 hours, parts of the tour will be skated in the dark a part of the tour with a serious risk of falling. She had no problems and therefore received her first “Elfstedentocht-kruisje” (the medal of the Eleven-cities tour)
The first time Mia participated in the Elfstedentocht was 1941. At that time she was 24 years old. This tour has been described was a relative easy. It was not very cold, the ice was good and the wind was not that strong. Therefore, of the 1900 skaters participated in the tour, 1672 finished the tour. There is no information how many women participated but one can assume that there were only very few women. One of them was Mia Tehupeiory of half Ambonese origin.
If the ice is rather good one can skate without much risk behind each other. That is of course easier that skating alone, especially against the mind. Nevertheless, one has to skate 200 km and that means that one need at least 10 hours, parts of the tour will be skated in the dark a part of the tour with a serious risk of falling. She had no problems and therefore received her first “Elfstedentocht-kruisje” (the medal of the Eleven-cities tour)
The Elfstedentocht 1942
It seems that she enjoyed the tour so much that she participated again in the tour when it was organized in 1942. That year the condition of the ice was even better but the temperature was between -5 and -10 Celsius and there was a strong wind. This combination can make the skating very hard and not without risk.Like all the skaters at that time, she will have put a lot of newspapers under her clothes against the wind. Nevertheless, it has been reported that many people came at the finish with frozen hands, eyes and ears. In general the skaters ignore these effects in order to finish the tour and get the cross. It seemed that Mia had no problems of this kind and finished the tour without serious problems
It seems that she enjoyed the tour so much that she participated again in the tour when it was organized in 1942. That year the condition of the ice was even better but the temperature was between -5 and -10 Celsius and there was a strong wind. This combination can make the skating very hard and not without risk.Like all the skaters at that time, she will have put a lot of newspapers under her clothes against the wind. Nevertheless, it has been reported that many people came at the finish with frozen hands, eyes and ears. In general the skaters ignore these effects in order to finish the tour and get the cross. It seemed that Mia had no problems of this kind and finished the tour without serious problems
The Elfstedentocht 1947
The last tour she has participated in was in 1947. Between 1942 and 1947 there was no other opportunity to skate the tour because it was not cold enough to make the tour possible. But in 1947 it was different. The temperature during the tour was below -10, the ice was bad and the wind was strong. This tour was very similar to the tour in 1963 only the ice was a bit better. In this tour 1991 skaters participated and only 14% or 280 reached the finish. This illustrates how difficult this tour was. Mia participated again and arrived late at night from Dokkum at the bridge of Barthehiem. This village is mainly famous for this bridge on the track of the Eleven-cities tour. From this bridge it is around 20 km to the finish in Leeuwarden. When she arrived here, she made a short stop before going on. However the organizers of the Eleven-cities tour thought that the risks of going on were too big for the skaters because of the darkness, the cold, the wind and the snow. THey wanted to prevent that many people would die because of this tour they had organized. Therefore they sent busses to the different towns to bus the people by bus to the finish in order to prevent serious accidents. Mia was also recommended to get into the bus for the last 20 km. She did that when she would get the medal anyway, otherwise she would continue skating. They said that she would get the medal. Then she accepted this deal and did the last 20 km in the bus. That this measure of the organization was a wise decision can be read in the report which Kees Bovée has written about his last 20 km in 1963.
The last tour she has participated in was in 1947. Between 1942 and 1947 there was no other opportunity to skate the tour because it was not cold enough to make the tour possible. But in 1947 it was different. The temperature during the tour was below -10, the ice was bad and the wind was strong. This tour was very similar to the tour in 1963 only the ice was a bit better. In this tour 1991 skaters participated and only 14% or 280 reached the finish. This illustrates how difficult this tour was. Mia participated again and arrived late at night from Dokkum at the bridge of Barthehiem. This village is mainly famous for this bridge on the track of the Eleven-cities tour. From this bridge it is around 20 km to the finish in Leeuwarden. When she arrived here, she made a short stop before going on. However the organizers of the Eleven-cities tour thought that the risks of going on were too big for the skaters because of the darkness, the cold, the wind and the snow. THey wanted to prevent that many people would die because of this tour they had organized. Therefore they sent busses to the different towns to bus the people by bus to the finish in order to prevent serious accidents. Mia was also recommended to get into the bus for the last 20 km. She did that when she would get the medal anyway, otherwise she would continue skating. They said that she would get the medal. Then she accepted this deal and did the last 20 km in the bus. That this measure of the organization was a wise decision can be read in the report which Kees Bovée has written about his last 20 km in 1963.
Mia had a very strong personality
It is very justified that Mia Tehupeiory was very proud of her participations in three Eleven cities tours, especially if you think that she came from a family with a very different culture, she was skating on wooden skates (Friese doorlopers) and she was one of the few women participating in these events. She had a strong character which helped her not only in these sport events but also in her work.
Perhaps because of her different skin color, she might also be underestimated and could only get simple jobs in a shop although she had finished a secondary education (HBS B). She took care that soon she moved to another job, the administration of a garage which she economically completely reorganized although she was the only woman in the company.
Later with the recommandation of the boss of this company she got a position at the Nederlanse handelsbank where she also made promotion and worked till her retirement in 1980.
It is very justified that Mia Tehupeiory was very proud of her participations in three Eleven cities tours, especially if you think that she came from a family with a very different culture, she was skating on wooden skates (Friese doorlopers) and she was one of the few women participating in these events. She had a strong character which helped her not only in these sport events but also in her work.
Perhaps because of her different skin color, she might also be underestimated and could only get simple jobs in a shop although she had finished a secondary education (HBS B). She took care that soon she moved to another job, the administration of a garage which she economically completely reorganized although she was the only woman in the company.
Later with the recommandation of the boss of this company she got a position at the Nederlanse handelsbank where she also made promotion and worked till her retirement in 1980.
This story was made with help of Jitske Bergman (Tampa, Florida)