Wilhelmus Frederik van Leeuwen

Wilhelmus Frederik van Leeuwen was born on 18 April 1860 in Surabaya, in what was then the Dutch East Indies. His father was a merchant and partner in the colonial trading house J.F. van Leeuwen & Co. Wilhelmus grew up in Amsterdam and, as the eldest son, was given a role in the family firm early on, mainly overseeing its business in the Indies. But he had no wish to be a trader himself. He studied law at the Athenaeum Illustre, took his doctorate in 1883 and became a lawyer in Amsterdam.

Boss of the city utilities

In 1895 he joined the city council and immediately became alderman for finance and municipal companies. In those years Amsterdam was taking more and more services into its own hands. Van Leeuwen was not a fan of these takeovers, but once the decision was made he ran the companies with enthusiasm. He insisted on proper bookkeeping, asked for regular reports and learned the technical side of every company. The directors praised the cooperation: he demanded clear proposals and made decisions quickly.

Mayor at forty

On 10 May 1901, aged about forty, he became mayor of Amsterdam. A magazine wrote that year that his face radiated youth and strength and that Amsterdam could be pleased with the choice. He was seen as dominant, quick-witted and at times hot-tempered. He had little sympathy for the socialists of the SDAP, the Social Democratic Workers' Party, and was irritated by the Interior Minister's interference in Amsterdam.

From 1902 he combined being mayor with a seat in the Senate. In 1905 he even turned down the chance to become prime minister. That same year he joined a commission on how to feed the civilian population inside the Stelling van Amsterdam, the ring of forts around the city, in wartime.

A critical farewell

In 1909 Van Leeuwen described the city government as 'functioning extremely poorly', and gave that as a reason to step down. He left on 15 January 1910. He went on to be the Queen's Commissioner in North Holland and, from 1914 to 1928, vice-president of the Council of State, the first commoner to hold that post. He died in The Hague on 6 September 1930.