Bram Peper

Who is Bram Peper?

Abraham Peper is a Dutch sociologist and former politician. Peper was Mayor of Rotterdam and Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and is member of the Dutch Labour Party.

After finishing the HBS, Peper studied social sciences at the University of Amsterdam until 1965 and economy and sociology at the University of Oslo and got his PhD at the Nederlandse Economische Hogeschool in 1972. Peper became researcher, and fulfilled several academic functions, including professor at the Erasmus University until he became Mayor of Rotterdam in 1982 at the age of 42. Rotterdam is the second largest city of The Netherlands, and Peper was one of the youngest mayors of a large city at the time.

In 1984 an interview with Peper and his wife with Ischa Meijer was published in Vrij Nederland, a Dutch magazine, in which Peper was critical towards citizens and rulers. The interview was perceived as arrogant, and seemed to be made while Peper was in a drunk condition. Peper made his apologies, and soon after he and his wife divorced.

While Peper was mayor, the city completed its process of rebuilding after World War II, which resulted in a new skyline for Rotterdam. In the second half of his mayorship, Peper had a tough time with for instance his defeat on the formation of a city province. Peper was mayor until 1998, when he joined the government as minister of the interior of The Netherlands in the cabinet Kok II.