Job Cohen | |
|---|---|
 Cohen in 2010 | |
| Member of theHouse of Representatives | |
| In office 17 June 2010 – 29 February 2012 | |
| Leader of theLabour Party in theHouse of Representatives | |
| In office 17 June 2010 – 20 February 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Mariëtte Hamer |
| Succeeded by | Jeroen Dijsselbloem |
| Leader of the Labour Party | |
| In office 25 April 2010 – 20 February 2012 | |
| Deputy | |
| Preceded by | Wouter Bos |
| Succeeded by | Diederik Samsom |
| Mayor of Amsterdam | |
| In office 15 January 2001 – 12 March 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Guusje ter Horst (ad interim) |
| Succeeded by | Lodewijk Asscher (ad interim) |
| State Secretary for Justice | |
| In office 3 August 1998 – 1 January 2001 | |
| Prime Minister | Wim Kok |
| Preceded by | Elizabeth Schmitz |
| Succeeded by | Ella Kalsbeek |
| Leader of theLabour Party in theSenate | |
| In office 1 August 1996 – 3 August 1998 | |
| Preceded by | Joop van den Berg [nl] |
| Succeeded by | Johan Stekelenburg |
| Senator of the Netherlands | |
| In office 13 June 1995 – 3 August 1998 | |
| State Secretary for Education and Sciences | |
| In office 2 July 1993 – 22 August 1994 | |
| Prime Minister | Ruud Lubbers |
| Preceded by | Roel in 't Veld |
| Succeeded by | Tineke Netelenbos Aad Nuis (Education, Culture and Science) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Marius Job Cohen (1947-10-18)18 October 1947 (age 78) Haarlem, Netherlands |
| Party | Labour Party (since 1967) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | Jaap Cohen (born 1980) Lotje Cohen (born 1983) |
| Parent |
|
| Relatives | Hendrik Cohen [nl] (grand-father) Floris Cohen (brother) |
| Alma mater | University of Groningen (LL.B.,LL.M.) Leiden University (PhD) |
| Occupation |
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Marius Job Cohen[a] (born 18 October 1947) is a retired Dutch politician and jurist who served asMayor of Amsterdam from 2001 to 2010 andLeader of the Labour Party (PvdA) from 2010 to 2012.[1][2][3]
Cohen studiedLaw at theUniversity of Groningen obtaining aMaster of Laws degree. Cohen worked as researcher at theLeiden University before finishing histhesis and graduated as aDoctor of Law inJurisprudence. Cohen worked as a professor of jurisprudence at theState University of Limburg from September 1983 until June 1993, he also served asRector Magnificus of the State University of Limburg from January 1991. Cohen was appointed asState Secretary for Education and Sciences in theCabinet Lubbers III following acabinet reshuffle taking office on 9 June 1993. In February 1994 Cohen announced that he wouldn't stand for theelection of 1994. Cohen continued to be active in politics and after theSenate election of 1995 was elected as aMember of the Senate on 13 June 1995 and served as afrontbencher andspokesperson forJustice,Education and Science. Cohen also returned to State University of Limburg and again worked as professor of Jurisprudence and served as Rector Magnificus from January 1995 until August 1998. Following the resignation of Parliamentary leaderJoop van den Berg [nl] Cohen was selected as his successor on 1 August 1996.
After theelection of 1998 Cohen was appointed asState Secretary for Justice in theCabinet Kok II taking office on 3 August 1998. In December 2000 Cohen was nominated as the nextMayor of Amsterdam serving from 15 January 2001 until his resignation on 12 March 2010. Shortly before an upcomingelectionLabour LeaderWouter Bos unexpectedly announced his retirement and Cohen announced his candidacy and was anonymously selected as his successor on 25 April 2010. For theelection of 2010 Cohen served asLijsttrekker (top candidate) and was elected as aMember of the House of Representatives and became Parliamentary leader on 17 June 2010. In January 2012 Cohen announced his retirement and that he was stepping down as Leader and Parliamentary leader on 20 February 2012 but continued to serve in the House of Representatives as abackbencher until his resignation on 29 February 2012.[4][5]
Cohen retired from active politics at 64 and became active in thepublic sector as a non-profit director and served on severalstate commissions [nl] and councils on behalf of the government, and worked as a distinguished professor ofConstitutional law and Governmental studies at his alma mater inLeiden from April 2014 until January 2019.[6][7]
MariusJobCohen was born inHaarlem. He is the second child (of two) of Adolf Emile "Dolf" Cohen (1913–2004) and Henriëtte "Hetty" Koster (1913–1996). His elder brother isFloris Cohen (born 1946).[8][9]
His parents both studied history and became high school teachers of history.[8][10] They were secular Jews, and were forced into hiding until the end ofWorld War II.[8] His paternal grandparents Hendrik Cohen and Flora Polak both were murdered inBergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945.[11] After the war, his father worked at theDutch Institute for War Documentation.[12] Later he became a professor ofmedieval history and arector magnificus atLeiden University.[13][14] His mother became a member of thecity council ofHeemstede. His parents were both early members of the Labour Party.[8]
Cohen attended public primary school in Heemstede. He attended the secondary school StedelijkGymnasium in Haarlem from 1960 to 1966. He studied Dutchpublic law at theUniversity of Groningen from 1966 and obtained hisMaster of Laws degree in 1971. During his student years, he was a member of the student associationVindicat atque Polit.[citation needed]
Cohen married Lidie Lodeweges on 2 July 1972 in Groningen. She studiedDutch language in Groningen and was a high school teacher. She hadmultiple sclerosis and needed awheelchair. Cohen and his wife had two children, son Jaap (born 1980) and daughter Lotje (born 1983).[15] Lidie Cohen died on 4 August 2015.[16]
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Between 1 September 1971 and 1 September 1981, Job Cohen held a scientific position at the Bureau Research of Education atLeiden University. He obtained a doctorate (PhD) from this university in June 1981, with a dissertation on the rights of university students.[17]
On 1 September 1981, he joined theState University of Limburg in a higher scientific capacity, and was chairman of the commission that prepared the establishment of a faculty of law. On 1 September 1983, Cohen became professor of methods and techniques at the faculty of law; on 1 January 1991 he also becamerector magnificus of the State University of Limburg. He resigned from this position to becomeState Secretary forEducation and Sciences in 1993.[citation needed]
In 1995 he returned to his position in Maastricht as professor and rector magnificus atMaastricht University (the former State University of Limburg). From 1 January 1998, he took asabbatical year, but he resigned in August 1998 when he becameState Secretary forJustice.[citation needed]
Cohen has received two honorary degrees for his contributions to law and society, one in 2007 from theUniversity of Windsor[18] and one in 2008 from theRadboud University Nijmegen.[19]
On 2 July 1993, Cohen becameState Secretary (deputy minister) forEducation and Sciences in thethird cabinet ofRuud Lubbers, under education ministerJo Ritzen. In Cohen's portfolio were higher and academic education, science policy, and adult education. The term of this post expired after a year and Cohen returned to his academic post in Maastricht.
From 13 June 1995, Cohen was a member of theSenate of the Netherlands. Between 1 August 1996 until he resigned from the Senate on 3 August 1998, he was also theparliamentary group leader of the Labour Party in the Senate.
During his period in the Senate, he also worked for theMaastricht University, where he began asabbatical year on 1 January 1998. In February 1998 however, he took on the function of interim-director of the broadcasting organizationVPRO, lasting until 15 August.
On 3 August 1998, he resigned from the Senate to take up the position of State Secretary for Justice in thesecond cabinet of Wim Kok, dealing chiefly with immigration. In this capacity he was responsible for a new immigration law, intended to restrict entry ofrefugees to "genuine cases".
He resigned his position as State Secretary on 31 December 2000 in order to take up the position ofMayor of Amsterdam (burgemeester) on 15 January 2001. Mayors of Dutch cities are appointed by the cabinet in the name of the monarch.[20]
At midnight on 1 April 2001, Cohen became the first public official to wed same-sex couples, following the passing of legislation opening up marriage to people of the same gender (seesame-sex marriage in the Netherlands).[21]
On 2 February 2002, Job Cohen performed the civil marriage ofPrince Willem-Alexander andMáxima Zorreguieta in theBeurs van Berlage in Amsterdam.[22]
In November 2004, controversial film makerTheo van Gogh was killed in Amsterdam by a Muslim extremist.Time awarded Cohen the title "European Hero" in 2005, for his inclusive approach towards the Muslim community after the murder, defusing tension in the city.[23]
Cohen found himself thrown into the role of mediator between the city's Muslims, the original Dutch population and other groups in the cultural and racial mix. Almost half Amsterdam's residents are of non-Western descent, a majority of them Muslims."Islam is here to stay, in this country, in this city (...) We have to deal with Islam as a fact, not whether we like it. So the real question is how to get on with each other." Cohen took pride in the fact that in Amsterdam no violence or arson occurred in response to the killing.[24] By his visiting ethnic groups, organizing debates among religious leaders and his listening and promoting dialogue, he received from opponents the mocking nickname of "tea drinker" – an image that would be exploited by them when he returned in the Dutch national politics in 2010.[25]
On 27 January 2006, Cohen announced he would be willing to serve a second term as mayor of Amsterdam. On 12 July 2006, the municipality of Amsterdam almost unanimously (Democrats 66 opposed, being in favour of an elected mayor) supported Cohen to prolong his career as a mayor after 15 January 2007 when his first term ended.
Cohen's politics towards ethnic minorities in Amsterdam was characterized by the slogan "keeping things together" (de boel bij elkaar houden). On 2 May 2006, Immigration MinisterRita Verdonk of the centre-rightVVD accused Amsterdam of becoming a "banana republic" with a lax safety policy; she cited the criminal liquidations and the disturbance caused by young people as examples of this. However, in the yearly crime meter of theAlgemeen Dagblad Amsterdam did not perform particularly badly in safety policy and crime fighting. One of the reasons for this was Cohen's targeted approach towards those who commit multiple crimes (veelplegers). Cohen stated that his policy which combines soft and hard approaches, fighting crime and fighting the causes of crime, was the key to his successful safety policy.
In 2006 Cohen was the runner-up in the award forWorld Mayor of 2006, behindMelbourne mayorJohn So, and ahead ofHarrisburg mayorStephen R. Reed. World Mayor praised Cohen's leadership following the murder ofTheo van Gogh in 2004, and his efforts at bringing together the diverse population of Amsterdam.[26][27]
In late 2007, Cohen moved to reduceprostitution in Amsterdam, following allegations thatHells Angels and other organized criminals had taken over the prostitution industry. The city council bought 18 buildings in the red light districtDe Wallen from Charlie Geerts in order to convert them into upscale establishments and revoked the license of the luxury brothelYab Yum.[28][29]
On 12 March 2010, Wouter Bos resigned as leader of the Labour Party. Bos named Cohen as candidate for the position, which he accepted. At the subsequent elections, Cohen was a candidate for Prime Minister. He was expected to be a strong opponent toGeert Wilders and was described in the press as "authoritarian but enlightened."[30] Exit polls showed the Labour Party as the second largest with 30 seats and 19.6% of the total vote.[31] Eventually his opponentMark Rutte of theVVD became thePrime Minister of the Netherlands.
He has been chair of the Labour Party in theHouse of Representatives since 10 June 2010 and a member of the House of Representatives since 17 June 2010.
On 20 February 2012, he resigned as leader of the Labour Party, he also left the House of Representatives over criticisms that he had been too moderate towards the center-right Dutch government's planned economic austerity measures and the Dutch government's support for the EU Commission's plan to bail out Greece, which had been passed with the support of the Dutch Labour Party. At the time of his resignation, the Dutch Socialist Party, politically to the left of the Dutch Labour Party, had overtaken the Dutch Labour Party in a number of opinion polls.
Cohen and his wife moved toMaarssen around 2016. In his retirement, he served as chair of thesupervisory board of NVVE, a Dutchright to die association, and he has been a guest speaker about World War II at schools.[32]
| Honours | ||||
| Ribbon bar | Honour | Country | Date | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Knight of theOrder of the Netherlands Lion | Netherlands | 8 October 1994 | |
 | Knight of theOrder of Orange-Nassau | Netherlands | 30 April 2003 | |
 | Grand Officer of theLegion of Honour | France | 21 March 2006 | |
 | Recipient Second Class of theCross of Recognition | Latvia | 23 October 2008 | [50][51] |
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Joop van den Berg | Parliamentary leader of the Labour Party in theSenate 1996–1998 | Succeeded by Johan Stekelenburg |
| Preceded by | Leader of the Labour Party 2010–2012 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lijsttrekker of the Labour Party 2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Parliamentary leader of the Labour Party in the House of Representatives 2010–2012 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | State Secretary for Education and Sciences 1993–1994 | Succeeded by |
| Succeeded by | ||
| Preceded by | State Secretary for Justice 1998–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Guusje ter Horst Ad interim | Mayor of Amsterdam 2001–2010 | Succeeded by Lodewijk Asscher Acting |
| Business positions | ||
| Preceded by Iris van Bennekom | Chairman of the Social Welfare and Unemployment providers association 2013–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Chairman of the Copyright and Patent association 2013–2019 | Succeeded by |
| Non-profit organization positions | ||
| Unknown | Chairman of the Supervisory board of the Dutch Voluntary Euthanasia association 2018–present | Incumbent |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by Vic Bonke | Rector Magnificus of the State University of Limburg 1991–1993 1995–1998 | Succeeded by Hans Philipsen |
| Preceded by Hans Philipsen | Succeeded by Arie Nieuwenhuijzen Kruseman | |
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1 denotesActing Mayor –2 denotesAd Interim Mayor –3 denotes Died in Office | ||
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