Bernard van Haersma Buma

Bernhardus "Bernhard" van Haersma Buma (23 March 1932 – 26 June 2020) was a Dutch politician and writer. As politician he was part of Christelijk-Historische Unie (CHU) and later CDA. He was mayor of Workum and Sneek.

Biography Van Haersma Buma was born in Stavoren in the province Friesland. He was the son of S. M. van Haersma Buma, who was the mayor there since 1930. When he was six years old his father became mayor of Wymbritseradeel. He was arrested during World War II and died in camp Neuengamme in 1942. Buma came from a family of grietmannen (rural mayors).

After finishing gymnasium in Sneek in 1950, he started studying law at Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht. After graduating he started his career working for the cabinet of the mayor of Den Haag and in 1959 for the cabinet of the commissaris van de Koningin in Drenthe.

In June 1962, when Van Haersma Buma was 30 years old, he was appointed as mayor of Workum. Exactly eight years later he became mayor of Sneek. He was the mayor until he retired in 1993. During his time as mayor, but also later he wrote several books about the history of Friesland.

He married Elly van Werkum (1933–2019) in 1959. They had two daughters and a son, Sybrand van Haersma Buma, who became member of the House of Representatives from 2002, served as the parliamentary leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) from 2010 and leader of his party from 2012 and mayor of Leeuwarden since 2019.

On 26 June 2020, while swimming he became unwell. Bystanders were alarmed, and resuscitated him. An ambulance was called, and Buma was hospitalised in Leeuwarden where he died aged 88.