Marius Job Cohen (born 18 October 1947) is a retired Dutch politician and jurist who served as Mayor of Amsterdam from 2001 to 2010 and Leader of the Labour Party (PvdA) from 2010 to 2012.
Cohen studied Law at the University of Groningen obtaining a Master of Laws degree. Cohen worked as researcher at the Leiden University before finishing his thesis and graduated as a Doctor of Law in Jurisprudence. Cohen worked as a professor of jurisprudence at the State University of Limburg from September 1983 until June 1993, he also served as rector magnificus of the State University of Limburg from January 1991. Cohen was appointed as State Secretary for Education and Sciences in the Cabinet Lubbers III following a cabinet reshuffle taking office on 9 June 1993. In February 1994 Cohen announced that he would not stand for the election of 1994. Cohen continued to be active in politics and after the Senate election of 1995 was elected as a Member of the Senate on 13 June 1995 and served as a frontbencher and spokesperson for Justice, Education and Science. Cohen also returned to State University of Limburg and again worked as professor of Jurisprudence and served as rector magnificus from January 1995 until August 1998. Following the resignation of Parliamentary leader Joop van den Berg Cohen was selected as his successor on 1 August 1996.
After the election of 1998 Cohen was appointed as State Secretary for Justice in the Cabinet Kok II taking office on 3 August 1998. In December 2000 Cohen was nominated as the next Mayor of Amsterdam serving from 15 January 2001 until his resignation on 12 March 2010. Shortly before an upcoming election Labour Leader Wouter Bos unexpectedly announced his retirement and Cohen announced his candidacy and was anonymously selected as his successor on 25 April 2010. For the election of 2010 Cohen served as Lijsttrekker (top candidate) and was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives and became Parliamentary leader on 17 June 2010. In January 2012 Cohen announced his retirement and that he was stepping down as Leader and Parliamentary leader on 20 February 2012 but continued to serve in the House of Representatives as a backbencher until his resignation on 29 February 2012.
Cohen retired from active politics at 64 and became active in the public sector as a non-profit director and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government, and worked as a distinguished professor of Constitutional law and Governmental studies at his alma mater in Leiden from April 2014 until January 2019.
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Biography
Family and education
Marius Job Cohen was born in Haarlem. He is the second child (of two) of Adolf Emile "Dolf" Cohen (1913–2004) and Henriëtte "Hetty" Koster (1913–1996). His elder brother is Floris Cohen (born 1946).
His parents both studied history and became high school teachers of history. They were secular Jews, and were forced into hiding until the end of World War II. His paternal grandparents Hendrik Cohen and Flora Polak both were murdered in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945. After the war, his father worked at the Dutch Institute for War Documentation. Later he became a professor of medieval history and a rector magnificus at Leiden University. His mother became a member of the city council of Heemstede. His parents were both early members of the Labour Party.
Cohen attended public primary school in Heemstede. He attended the secondary school Stedelijk Gymnasium in Haarlem from 1960 to 1966. He studied Dutch public law at the University of Groningen from 1966 and obtained his Master of Laws degree in 1971. During his student years, he was a member of the student association Vindicat atque Polit.
Cohen married Lidie Lodeweges on 2 July 1972 in Groningen. She studied Dutch language in Groningen and was a high school teacher. She had multiple sclerosis and needed a wheelchair. Cohen and his wife had two children, son Jaap (born 1980) and daughter Lotje (born 1983). Lidie Cohen died on 4 August 2015.
Academic career
Between 1 September 1971 and 1 September 1981, Cohen held a scientific position at the Bureau Research of Education at Leiden University. He obtained a doctorate (PhD) from this university in June 1981, with a dissertation on the rights of university students.
On 1 September 1981, he joined the State University of Limburg in a higher scientific capacity, and was chairman of the commission that prepared the establishment of a faculty of law. On 1 September 1983, Cohen became professor of methods and techniques at the faculty of law; on 1 January 1991 he also became rector magnificus of the State University of Limburg. He resigned from this position to become State Secretary for Education and Sciences in 1993.
In 1995 Cohen returned to his position in Maastricht as professor and rector magnificus at Maastricht University (the former State University of Limburg). From 1 January 1998, he took a sabbatical year, but he resigned in August 1998 when he became State Secretary for Justice.
Cohen has received two honorary degrees for his contributions to law and society, one in 2007 from the University of Windsor and one in 2008 from the Radboud University Nijmegen.
Political career
On 2 July 1993, Cohen became State Secretary (deputy minister) for Education and Sciences in the third cabinet of Ruud Lubbers, under education minister Jo Ritzen. In Cohen's portfolio were higher and academic education, science policy, and adult education. The term of this post expired after a year and Cohen returned to his academic post in Maastricht.
From 13 June 1995, Cohen was a member of the Senate of the Netherlands. Between 1 August 1996 until he resigned from the Senate on 3 August 1998, he was also the parliamentary group leader of the Labour Party in the Senate.
During his period in the Senate, he also worked for the Maastricht University, where he began a sabbatical year on 1 January 1998. In February 1998 however, he took on the function of interim-director of the broadcasting organization VPRO, lasting until 15 August.
On 3 August 1998, he resigned from the Senate to take up the position of State Secretary for Justice in the second cabinet of Wim Kok, dealing chiefly with immigration. In this capacity he was responsible for a new immigration law, intended to restrict entry of refugees to "genuine cases".
He resigned his position as State Secretary on 31 December 2000 in order to take up the position of Mayor of Amsterdam (burgemeester) on 15 January 2001. Mayors of Dutch cities are appointed by the cabinet in the name of the monarch.
At midnight on 1 April 2001, Cohen became the first public official to wed same-sex couples, following the passing of legislation opening up marriage to people of the same gender (see same-sex marriage in the Netherlands).
On 2 February 2002, Job Cohen performed the civil marriage of Prince Willem-Alexander and Máxima Zorreguieta in the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam.
In November 2004, controversial film maker Theo van Gogh was killed in Amsterdam by a Muslim extremist. Time awarded Cohen the title "European Hero" in 2005, for his inclusive approach towards the Muslim community after the murder, defusing tension in the city.
Later life
Cohen and his wife moved to Maarssen around 2016. In his retirement, he served as chair of the supervisory board of NVVE, a Dutch right to die association, and he has been a guest speaker about World War II at schools.
Honors and awards
European Hero (2005), Time
Best Mayor of the Last 25 Years (2005), Binnenlands Bestuur
Citizenship Award (2005), P&V Foundation
Honorary degree (2007), University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Advertising Man of the Year (2007), Marketing Tribune
Honorary degree (2008), Radboud University Nijmegen
Martin Luther King Award (2008), DutchVersity
Gold Medal (2010), city council of Amsterdam
Works
Books (as author)
Studierechten in het wetenschappelijk onderwijs (1981), dissertation
Wandeling door een historisch besluit (2003)
Binden (2009), collection of speeches and lectures
Audio books (as narrator)
Het grijze kind (2007), novel written by Theo Thijssen
De Uitvreter (2008), novella written by Nescio
Lijmen/Het Been (2009), two novellas written by Willem Elsschot
Kaas (2009), novella written by Willem Elsschot
Titaantjes (2010), novella written by Nescio
Max Havelaar (2010), novel written by Multatuli
Reizen zonder John (2012), non-fiction written by Geert Mak
Het dwaallicht (2013), novella written by Willem Elsschot
De eeuw van mijn vader (2013), non-fiction written by Geert Mak
De levens van Jan Six (2016), non-fiction written by Geert Mak