Wim Bossema
Born in the Netherlands in 1954, Wim Bossema is a journalist at Volkskrant where he runs the "Dear Neighbours" section, an online forum where Volkskrant readers can exchange views on European subjects with readers from Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza and Portugal's Público. A history graduate of the universities of Amsterdam and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, he was previously in charge of Volkskrant's Africa section.
Updated: 11 June 2009
Three centuries after his death, the philosopher is enjoying a new vogue in The Netherlands, which is finally paying tribute to its native son with a series of monuments, websites, conferences and exhibitions. Everyone seems to cherry-pick his work and put their own slant on it – which might not have thrilled the philosopher himself.