Pim Fortuyn

Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn (pronounced [pɪm fɔʁtœʏn], 19 February 1948 – 6 May 2002) was a Dutch sociologist and politician. Born in Driehuis, he was the leader of the LPF (Lijst Pim Fortuyn), a right-wing political party.^[1] He was very popular and was expected to win the 2002 elections. Fortuyn did not agree with some things the religion of Islam does, and did not want to let criminal Muslims from other countries come to the Netherlands. He was Roman Catholic and openly gay.^[2]

Pim Fortuyn
Pim Fortuyn on 4 May 2002, two days before his murder (Photo: Roy Beusker)
Born	Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn (1948-02-19)19 February 1948 Driehuis, Netherlands
Died	6 May 2002(2002-05-06) (aged 54) Hilversum, Netherlands
Cause of death	Murder by gunshots
Resting place	San Giorgio della Richinvelda, Italy
Nationality	Dutch
Other names	Pim Fortuijn
Alma mater	VU University Amsterdam (Bachelor of Social Science, Master of Social Science) University of Groningen (Doctor of Philosophy)
Occupation(s)	Politician · Civil servant · Sociologist Corporate director · Political consultant · Political pundit · Author · Columnist · Publisher · Teacher · Professor
Political party	Labour Party (1974–1989) People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (mid 1990s) Livable Netherlands (2001–2002) Livable Rotterdam (2001–2002) Pim Fortuyn List (2002)

Nine days before the elections, he was murdered during the 2002 Dutch national election campaign^[3][4][5] by Volkert van der Graaf, who is an extreme environmentalist and animal rights activist.^[6] In court at his trial, van der Graaf said he murdered Fortuyn to stop him from exploiting Muslims as "scapegoats" and targeting "the weak members of society" in seeking political power.^[7][8][9]

Early life and education

Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn was born on 19 February 1948 in Driehuis, as the third child to a Catholic family. His father worked as a salesman and his mother was a housewife. In 1967 he began to study sociology at the University of Amsterdam but transferred after a few months to the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. In 1971 he ended his study with the Academic degree Doctorandus. In 1981 he received a doctorate in sociology at the University of Groningen as a Doctor of Philosophy.

Death

On May 6, 2002, Fortuyn was shot in the head, neck and chest in a car park outside a radio studio where he had just given an interview to Ruud de Wild at 3FM by 32-year-old, Volkert van der Graaf. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The attacker was pursued by Fortuyn's driver, Hans Smolders; he was arrested shortly afterwards while still in possession of the handgun used to kill Fortuyn.

Related pages

• List of sociologists from Europe