Bernhardus "Bernhard" van Haersma Buma (23 March 1932 – 26 June 2020) was a Dutch politician and writer. As politician he was part of

Christelijk-Historische Unie The Christian Historical Union ( nl, Christelijk-Historische Unie, CHU) was a Protestant Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CHU is one of the predecessors of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), into which it merged i ...

(CHU) and later CDA. He was mayor of

Workum Workum () is a city located in the municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân in Friesland, Netherlands. It received city rights in 1399 and is one of the eleven cities of Friesland. It had a population of 4,435 in January 2017.Sneek Sneek (; fy, Snits) is a city southwest of Leeuwarden and the seat of the former municipality of Sneek in the province of Friesland, Netherlands. As of 2011 it is the seat of the municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân (Southwest Friesland). Th ...

Biography

Van Haersma Buma was born in

Stavoren Stavoren (; fry, Starum; previously Staveren) is a city in the province of Friesland, Netherlands, on the coast of the IJsselmeer, about 5 km (3.1 mi) south of Hindeloopen, in the municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân. Stavoren had a population ...

in the province

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

. He was the son of S. M. van Haersma Buma, who was the mayor there since 1930. When he was six years old his father became mayor of

Wymbritseradeel Wymbritseradeel (; official fry, Wymbritseradiel ()) was a rural municipality ( nl, gemeenten) in the Dutch province of Friesland from 1984 until 2011. An earlier type of municipality ( nl, grietenij) of the same name existed from 1500 until 198 ...

. He was arrested during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and died in camp

Neuengamme Neuengamme was a network of Nazi concentration camps in Northern Germany that consisted of the main camp, Neuengamme, and more than 85 satellite camps. Established in 1938 near the village of Neuengamme in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, th ...

in 1942. Buma came from a family of ''

grietman A grietman (from Old Frisian ''greta'' to accuse, to summon) is partly a forerunner of the current rural mayor in the province of Friesland, and partly the forerunner of a judge. The area of jurisdiction was the municipality or gemeente. In the j ...

nen'' (rural mayors). After finishing gymnasium in

Sneek Sneek (; fy, Snits) is a city southwest of Leeuwarden and the seat of the former municipality of Sneek in the province of Friesland, Netherlands. As of 2011 it is the seat of the municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân (Southwest Friesland). Th ...

in 1950, he started studying law at Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht. After graduating he started his career working for the cabinet of the mayor of

Den Haag The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

and in 1959 for the cabinet of the commissaris van de Koningin in

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Nov ...

. Besides that he was active as a politician. In 1960 he was appointed as chairman of ''Federatie van Christelijk-Historische Jongerengroepen''. In June 1962, when Van Haersma Buma was 30 years old, he was appointed as mayor of

. He was the mayor until he retired in 1993. During his time as mayor, but also later he wrote several books about the history of

. He married Elly van Werkum (1933–2019) in 1959. They had two daughters and a son,

Sybrand van Haersma Buma Sybrand van Haersma Buma (; born 30 July 1965) is a Dutch politician serving as Mayor of Leeuwarden since 2019. Until 2019, he was a member of the House of Representatives from 2002 who also served as the parliamentary leader of the Christian D ...

, who became member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 2002, served as the

parliamentary leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are the ...

of the

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary ...

(CDA) from 2010 and leader of his party from 2012 and mayor of

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of the ...

since 2019. On 26 June 2020, while swimming he became unwell. Bystanders were alarmed, and resuscitated him. An ambulance was called, and Buma was hospitalised in

where he died aged 88.

Bibliography

Books as (co) author * ''Van wezenzorg naar stadsbelang: het Old Burger Weeshuis te Sneek 1581–1981'', Osinga, Bolsward, 1981, * ''Rapport van de commissie Naar een nieuw Fries Museum beleid'', Fries Museum, Leeuwarden, 1985 * ''Gotisch bouwen in Friesland'', Stichting Monument van de Maand, Leeuwarden , 1991, * ''Spoorzoeken naar Gods erf: middeleeuwse Friese kloosters'', Stichting Kultuer en Toerisme yn Fryslân, Leeuwarden, 1994, * ''Dominicusdag 1245–1995: 750 jaar Dominicaanse aanwezigheid in Leeuwarden'', Comité Dominicusdag 1245–1995, Leeuwarden, 1999, * ''Het Boshuisen Gasthuis te Leeuwarden: gestalten en geslachten rond een gasthuis uit 1652'', Stichting Boshuisen Gasthuis, Leeuwarden, 1999, * ''1969–1999, Zuidwest Friesland'', Zuidwest Friesland, Sneek, 1999, * ''De Grote of Jacobijnerkerk en de Friese Nassaus'', Friese Pers Boekerij, Leeuwarden, 2005, * ''De Grote of Jacobijnerkerk te Leeuwarden'', Friese Pers Boekerij, Leeuwarden, 2008,

References

This article is (partly) copied from the Dutch Wikipedia. See attribution there. {{DEFAULTSORT:Haersma Buma, Bernhard van 1932 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch historians 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch politicians 21st-century Dutch historians 21st-century Dutch male writers Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Christian Historical Union politicians Mayors in Friesland People from Sneek People from Súdwest-Fryslân Utrecht University alumni