Akademik

(1948–2002)

   Sociologist and politician. After his studies at the Free University of Amsterdam, Fortuijn lectured at, among others, the uni versities of Groningen and Rotterdam, in the latter city as extraordi nary professor of employment conditions in the civil service. The con trary and openly homosexualFortuijn agitated against the second Wim Kok cabinet and criticized its policies concerning asylum, healthcare, education, safety, and traffic. With his controversial statements such as “The Netherlands is full” and “Islam is a backward culture,” he at tracted many supporters in a short time, but because of this he was no longer a suitable candidate for the leadership of the new political party Leefbaar Nederland (Livable Netherlands). Therefore, he founded his own party, the Lijst Pim Fortuyn(LPF)and, as his electoral program, wrote De puinhopen van acht jaar paars [The Mess of Eight Purple Years, 2002], referring to the political color of the then coalition of the Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA), Volkspartij voorVrijheid en Democ ratie (VVD), and Democraten 1966 (D66). Shortly before the May 2002 elections, Fortuijn’s ambition to become prime minister was brought to a close when he was brutally killed. The murder caused a great shock within Dutch society. The assassin, Volkert van der Graaf, received 18 years’imprisonment.