List of 38 prominent deaths that affected the Netherlands in 2023
Dozens of prominent and well-known people who had an impact on the Netherlands passed away over the course of 2023. The list is not limited to only artists, athletes, and politicians. Photographer Erwin Olaf, anti-apartheid leader Sietse Bosgra, and musicians, such as former Eurovision talent Heddy Lester, were among those who died over the past 12 months.
January 6: Gianluca Vialli (58), Italian footballer, former striker for Juventus and Chelsea, among others. Won the Italian title in 1991 and 1995 and also won the Champions League with Juventus in 1996 in the final against Ajax.
January 8: Sietse Bosgra (87), anti-apartheid activist, one of the founders of the Angola Committee, which was later renamed Komitee Southern Africa, which raised a lot of money for the African National Congress (ANC), the long-banned anti-apartheid movement of Nelson Mandela.
January 14: Lieuwe Westra (40), cyclist, was nicknamed "The Beast" because he could cycle so fast and continue. Stopped cycling in 2017, revealing in a book that he had used cortisone to cycle faster.
January 29: Heddy Lester (72), singer, participated for the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1977 with the song "De Mallemolen," finishing twelfth. In 2020, Lester starred in the film Greetings from Gerri, with Frank Lammers.
March 2: Jos Heymans (72), parliamentary reporter, worked for more than 20 years in the editorial office of RTL Nieuws in The Hague. Retired in 2016, but continued to write political columns for the RTL Nieuws website.
March 7: Harry de Winter (73), broadcast program creator and presenter, made his breakthrough with a program called Wintertijd. Responsible for popular games such as Lingo and Boggle and series such as Oud Geld and Pleidooi.
March 16: Beatrijs Ritsema (69), columnist and etiquette expert, humorously dealt with readers' questions about social interaction for twenty years in her column in the daily newspaper Trouw.
March 17: Adri Duivesteijn (72), politician for the PvdA. As alderman, he was responsible for the construction of The Hague town hall. Was a Member of Parliament on the parliamentary inquiry committee that investigated construction fraud.
March 27: Wim de Bie (83), comedian and writer, formed the duo Van Kooten and De Bie with Kees van Kooten, which made satirical theater and was shown on TV at the VPRO as, among others, the Simplisties Verbond and Keek op de Week.
March 27: Thijs Slegers (46), PSV Eindhoven press secretary, called on people to become a blood and stem cell donor before he died of leukemia. Blood bank Sanquin and the Matchis Foundation received thousands of new donors as a result.
April 9: Huub Oosterhuis (89), theologian and poet, pastor in the Amsterdam Student Ecclesia in the 1960s who wanted to offer an alternative to the Latin mass. Had warm ties with the royal family, father of singer Trijntje and composer Tjeerd.
April 25: Paul van Vliet (87), comedian, founded Cabaret PePijn in 1964 and managed Theater PePijn, where comedians like Youp van 't Hek, Herman Finkers and Theo Maassen, among others, performed in their early years.
May 10: Leen Pfrommer (87), skating coach, had well-known skaters such as Ard Schenk, Kees Verkerk, Jan Bols, Hans van Helden, Piet Kleine and also Marianne Timmer under his wing.
June 10: Lien Vos-van Gortel (91), the first female mayor of Utrecht (1981 to 1992), was one of the founders of the Leidsche Rijn district. Previously, she was the first female councilor in The Hague. Served in the Council of State from 1992 to 2001.
June 18: Jellie Brouwer (59), presenter, was one of the regular presenters of the NTR program Kunststof on NPO Radio 1 for more than 20 years. Previously, she worked for many years as an editor and reporter for various radio and television programs.
June 23: Willem Nijholt (88), actor, singer and dancer, has played in dozens of musicals, films and theater plays since the 1960s. He was seen on television in, for example, the children's series Oebele and Kunt u mij de weg naar hamelen vertellen mijnheer? He also appeared in De Stille Kracht and Willem van Oranje.
June 29: Jan Stekelenburg (81), presenter Studio Sport, commented in 1996 on the match in which the Dutch volleyball men became Olympic champions, worked in various positions at the NOS from 1968 to 2022.
June 30: Ruud Bos (87), composer, wrote music for musicians like Toon Hermans, Wim Sonneveld and Willeke Alberti, also for children's series such as De Fabeltjeskrant, Bassie & Adriaan, Diary of a Shepherd Dog and Children for Children. His music can also be heard in a number of attractions in the Efteling .
July 2: Theo Pahlplatz (76), footballer, played and lost the UEFA Cup final against Borussia Mönchengladbach with FC Twente in 1975. Played thirteen times for the Dutch national team.
July 10: Marga Minco (103), writer, received the P.C. Hooft Prize in 2019 for all her works. Her best-known book is Het bittere kruid (1957) in which she describes how she escaped deportation during World War II.
August 19: Tineke Beishuizen (84), writer, one of the icons of the weekly magazine Libelle, which she has been associated with since 1973. Also wrote thrillers, screenplays and song lyrics, including for Rob de Nijs and Marco Bakker.
August 30: Jan Jongbloed (82), footballer, former goalkeeper of the Dutch national team. Worked as a goalkeeper for DWS, FC Amsterdam, Roda JC and Go Ahead Eagles. Later worked as an assistant coach and interim coach for Vitesse.
August 31: Clairy Polak (67), journalist and presenter, worked for radio programs such as De Klassieken and Met het Oog op Morgen and the television sections NOVA and Buitenhof. Received awards such as the Sonja Barend Award in 2010 and the Honorary Silver Travel Microphone in 2014.
September 15: Fernando Botero (91), Colombian artist, had a very characteristic style as a painter and sculptor, with round, exaggerated figures. In 2016 there was a major exhibition of Botero's work in the Rotterdam Kunsthal.
September 20: Erwin Olaf (64), photographer, exhibited at home and abroad. In 2013, he designed the new Dutch euro coins with King Willem-Alexander, who was inaugurated that year. Four years later he also made the official portraits of the royal family.
September 24: Reiky de Valk (23), Dutch actor, known for series such as Dertigers, Oogappels, Hockeyvaders and Modern Love Amsterdam. He also played the leading role in the video clip of "De Diepte", the song with which S10 represented the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2022.
October 7: Tjerk Westerterp (92), CDA politician and former Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, responsible, among other things, for making the moped helmet and wearing a seat belt mandatory. Also creator of the AEX index, the most important indicator of the Amsterdam stock exchange.
November 14: Karel van de Graaf (72), AVRO presenter and journalist, presented Televizier, two seasons of Wie is de Mol? and radio program Met het Oog op Morgen. Received the Silver Reiss Microphone in 1981 for his radio work.
November 18: Ruud Geels (75), former football player for Feyenoord, Ajax and PSV, among others, became top scorer in the Eredivisie five times and won the European Cup 1 with Feyenoord. He played twenty times for the Dutch national team and scored eleven times.
November 19: Wim van der Leegte (76), entrepreneur, former CEO of the industrial group VDL Groep, which under his leadership grew into a conglomerate with more than a hundred companies, including Nedcar in Born, and more than 16,000 employees active in nineteen countries.
November 23: Harald Hasselbach (56), a Dutch professional American football player, was the first Dutch person to play in the Super Bowl in 1998. Won the American football season championship twice with his club, the Denver Broncos.
December 1: Burny Bos (79), film producer, writer and actor, head of the youth department of VPRO from 1984 to 1989. Under his leadership, iconic programs such as Villa Achterwerk, Rembo & Rembo and Theo and Thea were launched.
December 3: Peter d'Hamecourt (77), journalist and former Russia correspondent, lived in Moscow between 1989 and 2008 and covered the fall of the Soviet Union from there for NOS news broadcasts and Algemeen Dagblad.
December 6: Cilly Dartell (66), presenter, best known for the SBS6 program Hart van Nederland, which she presented from 1996 to 2012, and Shownieuws. Before she appeared on television, she worked in theater, first with various cabaret groups and theater companies, later she switched to musicals.
December 13: Paul Litjens (76), former hockey international, played a total of 177 times for the Dutch national team between 1970 and 1982. With 268 goals he is still the top scorer of the Dutch team.
December 16: Mathieu Segers (47), professor at Maastricht University, wrote books about European history and was a popular guest on talk programs. Published in international journals and participated in research projects at Harvard and Oxford universities.
December 17: Linda van Dyck (75), actress, played in dozens of successful theater plays, films and series. Was known for roles in Twee vorstinnen en een vorst (1981), Ciske de Rat (1983) and Daens (1992).
December 20: Harrie Smeets (63), former bishop of Roermond. Was ordained bishop in 2018, his motto was, "To love people in God's name." Previously, he was deacon of Venray, among other things. Resigned in August of this year due to illness.
Reporting by ANP
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