Floor Wibaut

This is a portrait of Wibaut, the first socialist councillor in Amsterdam. Between 1910 and 1930, he was responsible for a lot of public housing projects. His name is still well-known, as many streets, statues and buildings in Amsterdam are named after him. Less known about is his progressive and controversial private life. Wibaut was not a monogamous man. In fact, he and his wife had an open marriage! This sometimes lead to a lot of commotion, and in 1924 his extramarital relationships even raised some questions in the Senate. Together with his wife he wrote the book Wordend Huwelijk, or “Becoming Marriage”, in which they covered issues such as premarital intercourse, birth control, abortion, divorce and the position of girls and women in general.  Of course his views were not in line with the heteronormative mindset of that time.