Eberhard van der Laan

Eberhard van der Laan was born in Leiden on 28 June 1955 and grew up in nearby Rijnsburg, one of five children. His father was a family doctor and local councillor, and both his parents had been in the wartime resistance. After a brief spell studying medicine in Brussels he switched to law at the VU University in Amsterdam. He lived in the Mercatorbuurt in Amsterdam West for 25 years.

He became a lawyer and in 1992 co-founded the firm Kennedy Van der Laan. From 1990 to 1998 he sat on the Amsterdam city council for the Labour Party (PvdA), and from 2008 to 2010 he was the national Minister for Housing, Communities and Integration.

Mayor for everyone

Van der Laan became mayor on 7 July 2010. He became known for his handling of a major child abuse case in the city and for the Top600 programme, which targeted young repeat offenders one by one. He also pushed through the renaming of the Amsterdam ArenA stadium as the Johan Cruijff ArenA. His second term began in July 2016. His speech at the National Remembrance on 4 May 2017, about peace, tolerance and the rule of law, struck a chord across the country.

A very public farewell

In January 2017 it emerged that he had incurable lung cancer. In a letter he wrote that he hoped to remain 'your mayor for a while longer'. That summer, on 30 July 2017, he was the guest on Zomergasten, a much-loved long-form TV interview show.

On 18 September 2017 he wrote a letter to the city. 'Dear Amsterdammers,' it began. Treatment options had run out, and he was stepping down. Being mayor of 'the most beautiful and kindest city in the world' had been 'a great privilege'. He ended: 'Take good care of our city and of each other. Farewell.'

Two days later about a thousand people gathered on the Herengracht outside his official residence. They applauded for minutes on end and sang 'Aan de Amsterdamse grachten', one of his favourite songs. His wife Femke came out to thank them: he had heard everything and loved it.

Eberhard van der Laan died on 5 October 2017, aged 62. On 1 July 2019 his widow unveiled the closing line of his letter as wall text on the Mercatorplein, in his old neighbourhood.