Schelto Patijn

Schelto Patijn was born in The Hague on 13 August 1936 into a family of public servants. His father was a member of parliament, a great-uncle had been a mayor and cabinet minister, and the family line went back to the 17th-century naval hero Michiel de Ruyter. Patijn studied law in Utrecht, worked at the Foreign Ministry and became director of the Europa Institute at Leiden University.

Europe was his passion. As a member of the Dutch parliament from 1973 to 1984, and of the European Parliament, he designed a scheme for electing the European Parliament directly. In 1982 he topped the shortlist for mayor of Rotterdam, but the cabinet picked Bram Peper instead. From 1984 to 1994 he was the Queen's Commissioner, effectively the governor, of the province of South Holland.

From The Hague to Amsterdam

Patijn was originally meant to become governor of a new 'city province' of Amsterdam. When voters rejected that plan in a referendum, only the mayoralty was left. He took office on 1 June 1994. He was described as a 'modern-style patrician', yet his open, direct manner and easy contact with ordinary Amsterdammers won them over. He even had a fan club.

Patijn tackled drug nuisance with vigour and initially wanted to halve the number of coffee shops in the city. He also drew criticism, for instance when he restricted the famous free street market on Queen's Day.

Europe comes to Amsterdam

On 16 and 17 June 1997 Europe's heads of government met in Amsterdam and agreed on a new treaty, signed on 2 October 1997: the Treaty of Amsterdam. It covered border-free travel, cooperation on asylum and crime, and more power for the European Parliament. It came into force on 1 May 1999. It put Amsterdam's name into Europe's history books.

From May to November 1999 illness kept him from his duties. He stepped down on 1 January 2001. He had planned to move back to The Hague but stayed in Amsterdam, and kept playing hockey in a veterans' team for years. Patijn died in Amsterdam on 15 July 2007. After a farewell in the Westerkerk he was buried at Zorgvlied cemetery. His successor Job Cohen called his death 'a great loss to the city'.