Peter Bossman (born 2 November 1955) is a

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

-born

Slovenian Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Sloven ...

physician and politician. He was mayor of

Piran Piran (; it, Pirano ) is a town in southwestern Slovenia on the Gulf of Piran on the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the three major towns of Slovenian Istria. The town is known for its medieval architecture, with narrow streets and compact houses. P ...

, a city and municipality in

Slovenian Istria Slovene Istria ( sl, slovenska Istra, it, Istria slovena) is a region in southwest Slovenia. It comprises the northern part of the Istrian peninsula, and it is part of the wider geographical-historical region known as the Slovene Littoral. Its l ...

in south-western Slovenia. A member of the centre-left

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

, he defeated the incumbent mayor Tomaž Gantar in the October 2010 mayoral election to become Slovenia's first black mayor. In 2011 he was also appointed to the

Committee of the Regions The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the European Union's (EU) assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities (i.e. regions, counties, provinces, municipalities and cities) with a direct voice w ...

of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

Early life and family

Bossman was born in Accra, the capital of Ghana (then known as the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

), on 2 November 1955.
English translation
Bossman came from a relatively well-off family. His father was a politician, as well as a friend and personal physician of Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's leader from independence. Bossman spent much of his early life in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, Switzerland and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, where his father helped found Ghanaian embassies. Following a 1966 coup that saw members of the

National Liberation Council The National Liberation Council (NLC) led the Ghanaian government from 24 February 1966 to 1 October 1969. The body emerged from a ''coup d'état'' against the Nkrumah government carried out jointly by the Ghana Police Service and Ghana Armed For ...

overthrow Nkrumah's elected government, Bossman was forced to leave Ghana. He was unable to come to Britain, where he had originally hoped to study, and so chose to come to

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, originally hoping to study in Belgrade. He was ultimately sent to

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

, however, arriving as a

medical student A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, MB ...

in what was then the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, within Yugoslavia, in 1977. He has said that he "fell in love" with Slovenia when he arrived, finding it "clean and green". While he was studying, he remained politically active, heading an African students' organisation. His original intention to return to Ghana upon completing his studies was disrupted when he fell in love with a

Croat The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...

woman, Karmen Laković, a fellow student. After completing his studies, he and Karmen, also a doctor, settled in Piran, where they run a

private practice Private practice may refer to: *Private sector practice **Practice of law In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiati ...

. They are now married and have two daughters.

Politics

Bossman, previously a member of the Piran City Council, successfully ran for mayor in 2010, narrowly defeating his opponent, the incumbent independent centre-right mayor Tomaž Gantar. In the run-off election on 24 October, he achieved 51.4% of the vote, defeating Gantar, who got 48.4%. Unofficial figures following the counting of all ballots showed Bossman with 3418 votes, 185 more votes than the 3233 cast for Gantar. The relatively low turnout, 44% of all voters, was deplored by both candidates.
English translation
Bossman's campaign focused on encouraging people to drive electric cars, building a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

to promote

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

, and promoting local products. He has also pledged to work to try to improve

Croatia–Slovenia relations Croatia–Slovenia relations are foreign relations between Croatia and Slovenia. Croatia has an embassy in Ljubljana and two honorary consulates in Maribor and Koper. Slovenia has an embassy in Zagreb and an honorary consulate in Split. The count ...

, which have been recently strained over a number of minor border disputes.
English translation
Bossman has stated that race was not much of an issue during the election, although he did receive criticism on account of his supposed lack of fluency in Slovene. He has stated that a friend, a professor of Slovene, has offered to give him additional lessons. Bossman officially took office at the first (constitutive) meeting of the municipal council on 12 November 2010.
English translation
His inauguration as mayor attracted more members of the media, including international media, than there were council members present.
English translation
Bossman was re-elected for a second term as mayor on 19 October 2014.

Reaction to election

Bossman's election as mayor has attracted international attention. In addition to becoming Slovenia's first black mayor, he has also been described as being probably the first black person to become a mayor in the former Yugoslavia as well as in the former Eastern Bloc (although Slovenia as a part of Yugoslavia was only part of the Eastern Bloc briefly until the

Tito–Stalin Split The Tito–Stalin split or the Yugoslav–Soviet split was the culmination of a conflict between the political leaderships of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, under Josip Broz Tito and Joseph Stalin, respectively, in the years following World W ...

, which led to the eventual formation of the

Non-Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide. The movement originated in the aftermath o ...

). He has also been widely compared to U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

, being dubbed by the media as the 'Obama of Piran'. Bossman has, however, insisted he has no political ambitions beyond the mayoralty, having stated that he intends to return to medicine upon leaving office.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bossman, Peter 1955 births Living people Social Democrats (Slovenia) politicians Slovenian physicians Mayors of places in Slovenia People from Piran Ghanaian emigrants Immigrants to Yugoslavia Medical doctors from Accra Slovenian people of Ghanaian descent