Peper. At the constitutional revision of 1983 Patijn played an important role. On 16 June 1984 Patijn became commissioner of the queen in the province South Holland. In that function he signed a decision of the Provincial Council of South Holland on 30 August 1988, that later lead to a financial scandal (in 1999). By 1 June 1994 Patijn became Mayor of Amsterdam. He succeeded Ed van Thijn, who in January of that year had left to succeed the deceased Ien Dales as minister of home affairs in the Cabinet Lubbers III. Patijn was a remarkable choice, because a tradition appeared to be emerging to appoint a Jewish mayor in the municipality of Amsterdam. He was to be the commissioner of the queen of the still to be formed town province of Amsterdam. When however the town province was voted down by referendum, one mayor job only remained for Patijn; actually a degradation for a commissioner of the queen. As Mayor, Patijn initially wanted to halve the number of coffee shops in the capital. He got within some years a pet name (Uncle shrill) and a fan club. Nevertheless he was much criticised for restricting the free market on Queen's Day. Patijn was succeeded on 1 January 2001 by Job Cohen. After stepping down as mayor he continued live in Amsterdam, even though it was his intention to return to The Hague. Trivia In February 2001 Patijn was asked to be vice-chairman of the Labour Party, but he withdrew due to health reasons. In 2004, Patijn was the President of a Labour Party-project group which wrote a report regarding integration and immigration. Patijn married Elisabeth Stroink on 12 July 1961. The couple had three children. After a long spell with health problems, Schelto Patijn died in the summer of 2007. He was 70. After a private commemoration in the Westerkerk, Patijn was buried in the Amsterdam cemetery Zorgvlied. His father outlived him by a few months, until his own death on 7 September 2007 at the age of 98. Decorations References External links Official Dr. S. (Schelto) Patijn Parlement & Politiek 1936 births 2007 deaths Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Deaths from cancer in the Netherlands Deaths from kidney cancer Dutch jurists Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives King's and Queen's Commissioners of South Holland Knights of the Order of the Netherlands