Femke Halsema

Femke Halsema (; born 25 April 1966) is a Dutch politician and filmmaker. On 27 June 2018, she was appointed Mayor of Amsterdam and began serving a six-year term on 12 July 2018. She is the first woman to hold the position on a non-interim basis. She previously was a member of the House of Representatives for the leftist green party GroenLinks from 1998 to 2011, and served as the party's parliamentary leader from 2002 to 2010. Career Family background Halsema was born in 1966 in Haarlem in a Dutch social democratic family. They moved to Enschede, a town in the east of the Netherlands, close to the German border (Twente). Her father W. Halsema was a sports teacher and director of the municipal service for physical education, sports and recreation (Dienst lichamelijke opvoeding, sport en recreatie) of Enschede. For a long time, from 1982 until 1994, her mother Olga Halsema-Fles was an alderwoman responsible for social affairs and employment for the Labour Party (PvdA) in Enschede. Her mother was also a member of the Dutch Social Insurance Advisory Board (College van Toezicht Sociale Verzekeringen). Religious origin