On July 29, former senator Geert Reuten passed away. Reuten was an economist and a member of the SP faction.
He was born in 1946 in Heerlen and studied economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Birkbeck College in London.
In 1988, he obtained his PhD at the University of Amsterdam, where he worked as a lecturer and later as a senior lecturer in economics since 1977. From 2002 to 2009, Reuten was the director of the masters program in economics. Reuten was an internationally recognized expert on Karl Marx. He gained recognition with a handy summary of his main work Das Kapital.
Reuten was a member of the SP faction in the Senate from June 26, 2018, to June 11, 2019. This was not his first term as senator: he was also a member from June 12, 2007, to June 9, 2015. On behalf of the SP, he was spokesperson for finance and economic affairs. In debates on these topics, Reuten always made scientifically substantiated contributions, often using numbers and tables.
In addition to his academic and political work, Reuten was active in various social organizations, including ATTAC Netherlands, which advocates for fair financial transactions. He was also a board member of an Amsterdam theater company.
Geert Reuten is remembered as a versatile senator who always prepared his contributions very thoroughly. He will be commemorated at a later date in the Senate.