Robbert Baruch (

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, 12 October 1967) is a Dutch

lobbyist Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...

, public administrator and former PvdA politician in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. From 2006 to 2009 he was the Deputy Mayor and Alderman on behalf of the PvdA in the

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

borough of

Feijenoord Feijenoord () is a borough of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, south of the Nieuwe Maas. Feyenoord football club was formed there, but now play in the neighbouring township of IJsselmonde. It was a centre of shipbuilding in the nineteenth century, ...

. From 2012 to 2021 he was Manager Public Affairs in

Buma/Stemra BUMA/STEMRA are two private organisations in the Netherlands, the Buma Association (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Vereniging Buma'') and the Stemra Foundation (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Stichting Stemra'') that operate as one single company that acts as ...

. In 2021 Baruch held the role of Senior Vice President Public Affairs, Europe to Universal Music Group (UMG).

Biography

Baruch studied

political philosophy Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and Political legitimacy, legitimacy of political institutions, such as State (polity), states. This field investigates different ...

and

public administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

with and

Andreas Kinneging Andreas Antonius Maria Kinneging (born 26 February 1962 in Eindhoven) is Professor of Legal Philosophy at the University of Leiden, and a conservative philosopher in the Netherlands. Background Kinneging was raised in a Catholic family in the D ...

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

. Being Jewish, he also studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

at the in

and at

Machon Meir Machon Meir () is a religious Zionist outreach organization and yeshiva located near Givat Shaul in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Kiryat Moshe. It is one of the larger Jewish outreach () organizations in Israel. History & Ideology Machon Meir wa ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. He writes the longest running

political blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

in the Netherlands and was a member of the

Provincial Council of South Holland The Provincial Council of South Holland (), also known as the States of South Holland, is the provincial council of South Holland, Netherlands. It forms the legislative body of the province. Its 55 seats are distributed every four years in provi ...

from 2003 to 2007. As the PvdA candidate, he took the role of Deputy Mayor and Alderman in

borough of

From 2006 to 2009. In 2013 he was candidate for ballot leader for PvdA at the 2014 European elections, Throughout his life, Baruch had embraced the importance of the local communities and

social inclusion Social exclusion or social marginalisation is the social disadvantage and relegation to the fringe of society. It is a term that has been used widely in Europe and was first used in France in the late 20th century. In the EU context, the Euro ...

initiatives. He led many initiatives to renaming streets and public spaces after local heroes. In the

Afrikaanderwijk Afrikaanderwijk is a neighborhood of Rotterdam, Netherlands. It lies in the Feijenoord district of the city, and is traditionally a working-class neighborhood. The neighborhood was one of the first in the Netherlands to have a majority of resident ...

neighbourhood of

, He initiated renaming streets after

Afrikaners Afrikaners () are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch people, Dutch Settler colonialism, settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in Free Burghers in the Dutch Cape Colony, 1652.Entry: Cape Colony. '' ...

from the

Boer Wars The military history of South Africa chronicles a vast time period and complex events from the dawn of history until the present time. It covers civil wars and wars of aggression and of self-defence both within South Africa and against it. It i ...

to more current and diverse politicians. He also informally named a sports

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

there after the local

Hip-Hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

artist Helderheid. In 2021 the Rotterdam Municipality formalised this and officially named the park Helderheidplein. He defended the role of

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

s committees in mitigating

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

issues and

public safety Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensu ...

and helped

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

groups in

to qualify for

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

funds by widening the beneficiary base of their social activities projects. He lobbied for the preservation of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and

ritual slaughter Ritual slaughter is the practice of slaughtering livestock for meat in the context of a ritual. Ritual slaughter involves a prescribed practice of slaughtering an animal for food production purposes. Ritual slaughter as a mandatory practice of sl ...

. In 2013 he was one of the PvdA candidates for the party leader at the

European elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until 2019, 751 ...

. In 2021 Baruch held the role of Senior Vice President Public Affairs, Europe to Universal Music Group (UMG). From 2012 to 2021 he was manager Public Affairs at

, the Dutch collective management society for composers and music publishers. During

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Robbert has led the efforts of the Emergency Fund and the

Investment Fund An investment fund is a way of investment, investing money alongside other investors in order to benefit from the inherent advantages of working as part of a group such as reducing the risks of the investment by a significant percentage. These ad ...

for Dutch

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...

s and music publishers.

Personal life

Baruch married and had three children. His oldest daughter, Rebecca Baruch, died in 2024 whilst serving in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

and is buried on

Mount Herzl Mount Herzl ( ''Har Hertsl''), also ''Har ha-Zikaron'' ( lit. "Mount of Remembrance"), is the site of Israel's national cemetery and other memorial and educational facilities, found on the west side of Jerusalem beside the Jerusalem Forest. I ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baruch, Robbert 1967 births Living people 21st-century Dutch politicians Aldermen of a Rotterdam borough Dutch campaign managers Dutch Jews Dutch lobbyists Dutch political consultants Jewish Dutch politicians Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Leiden University alumni Members of the Provincial Council of South Holland Politicians from Amsterdam Universal Music Group