Maarten van Rossem

Maarten van Rossem (born 24 October 1943) is a Dutch historian, presenter, and social commentator. He is a professor emeritus of modern history at Utrecht University. Van Rossem specializes in the history and politics of the United States. As an expert on America he is a frequent guest on television talk shows. His public career began when he was invited to comment on the 1984 U.S. vice-presidential elections.

He attended grammar school in Wageningen, where he excelled in the sciences. Initially, he enrolled in pharmacy studies at the Utrecht University due to his strong performance in chemistry. However, dissatisfied with the subject, he secretly switched to studying history—a decision met with opposition from his family who feared that he would struggle to find a job. He continues to give public lectures all around the country.

Television Van Rossem is a regular guest in talkshows and news programs. He has had a history column in several programs. He has presented a number of programs himself, including (historical) documentaries and a quiz.

Van Rossem was a friend of Theo van Gogh. They made a 1997 talkshow together on local Amsterdam network AT5, and he played a role in In the Interest of the State, one of his films.

Between 2012 and 2025, Van Rossem was the sole jury member on the Dutch version of De Slimste Mens quiz. Paulien Cornelisse succeeded him in this role in 2025.

In the summer of 2012 he toured the United States in preparation of a documentary series on the 2012 presidential elections.

Together with his siblings Vincent and Sis he has presented a program on Dutch, Belgian and German cities. Sis died in 2022. In 2019, he made a similar show with Vincent about cities in former East Germany. In 2023, Van Rossem and Vincent presented the show De Broeders Van Rossem.

Politics During the 2012 Dutch general elections he was a lijstduwer for the Labour Party, which earned them 5,929 votes, ranking him the 16th most popular candidate.

Although having disavowed Labour because of its role in the second Rutte cabinet and having voted for D66 in 2017, he was lijstduwer in his home city of Utrecht for the 2022 Dutch municipal elections, claiming that local parties were different than national parties.

Magazine The first issue of his own magazine, the Maarten!, was published in the summer of 2008. Initially a one time addition to the Historic Newspaper (Dutch: Historisch Nieuwsblad), the glossy magazine has since grown into its own, circulating on a bimonthly basis. Even though the format parodies personality magazines like that of Linda de Mol, its content is serious, running editorials on current events and putting them against a historic background.

Podcast Since 2020 Van Rossem has his own podcast, presented by Tom Jessen.

Personal life He is married to Winnie van Rossem-Robijns since 1989, she is former editor of Margriet magazine. The couple has two children.

The moth species Lambula vanrossemi is named after him.