Abraham "Bram" Peper (13 February 1940 – 20 August 2022) was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA).

Early life

After finishing the Hogere Burgerschool, Peper studied

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...

s at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

until 1965 and economy and sociology at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

(1963/1964) and got his PhD at the ''Nederlandse Economische Hogeschool'' (Currently

Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus University Rotterdam (abbreviated as ''EUR'', nl, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam ) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century humani ...

) in 1972.

Career

Peper became a researcher, and fulfilled several academic functions, including professor at the Erasmus University until he became Mayor of Rotterdam in 1982 at the age of 42. Rotterdam is the second largest city of the Netherlands, and Peper was one of the youngest mayors of a large city at the time. In 1984 an interview with Peper and his wife with Ischa Meijer was published in ''

Vrij Nederland ''Vrij Nederland'' (Free Netherlands) is a Dutch magazine, established during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II as an underground newspaper. It has since grown into a magazine. The originally weekly and now monthly magazi ...

'', a Dutch magazine, in which Peper was critical of citizens and rulers. The interview was perceived as arrogant, and seemed to be made while Peper was in a drunk condition. Peper made his apologies, and soon after he and his wife divorced. While Peper was mayor, the city completed its process of rebuilding after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, which resulted in a new

skyline A skyline is the outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city’s overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the land. City skyline ...

for Rotterdam. In the second half of his mayorship, Peper had a tough time with for instance his defeat on the formation of a city province (90% of the voters in a referendum were against). Peper was mayor until 1998, when he joined the government as Minister of the Interior of the Netherlands in the

second Kok cabinet The second Kok cabinet, also called the second Purple cabinet was the executive branch of the Dutch government from 3 August 1998 until 22 July 2002. The cabinet was a continuation of the previous first Kok cabinet and was formed by the soc ...

. Starting in 1999, rumours were spreading that Peper had made incorrect declarations while he was mayor of Rotterdam. On 13 March 2000 Peper resigned as minister, according to himself to no longer bring problems to the public government, and to be better able to defend himself. Although a report on 17 March suggested that Peper did not act properly regarding the declarations, Peper won the legal procedures finally two years later.

Later life and death

From 2002 to 2004, Peper was professor at the

Nyenrode Business University Nyenrode Business Universiteit (abbreviated as ''NBU''; nl, Nyenrode Business Universiteit) is a Dutch business university and one of the five private universities in the Netherlands. Founded in 1946, it is located on a large estate in the town ...

, a private university, from which he resigned due to a disagreement regarding a study trip to the European Union in Brussels. Peper died on 20 August 2022, at the age of 82.

Decorations

Notes

References

External links

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Dr. A. (Bram) Peper
Parlement & Politiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Peper, Bram 1940 births 2022 deaths Dutch sociologists Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch expatriates in Norway Erasmus University Rotterdam alumni Academic staff of Erasmus University Rotterdam Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Mayors of Rotterdam Ministers of the Interior of the Netherlands Ministers of Kingdom Relations of the Netherlands Academic staff of Nyenrode Business University Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Politicians from Haarlem University of Amsterdam alumni 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch politicians