Peter Pappenheim

Peter Pappenheim was born in Amsterdam in 1926 but lived in Switzerland from 1932 until 1947. During this time Pappenheim learned to ski in the Swiss Alps, and took part in international skiing competitions on his return to the Netherlands. Between 1949 and 1958 he represented the Dutch Alpine skiing team and became the national champion in 1954. Along with his brother Dick, he was selected to represent the Netherlands at the 1952 Oslo Olympics. Although decent skiers in their home country, the Dutch team were no match for the more established skiing nations. Peter’s best result was 48th in the downhill, with his brother doing slightly better with 45th. The Pappenheim brothers were both aiming to participate at the 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Olympics. The Dutch Ski Association, however, imposed much stricter criteria for qualification, which resulted in no one being selected for Alpine skiing at the 1956 Games.

After his career as a skier Pappenheim became a noted economist. He worked for two years as an intern to the professor of mathematical economics at the Dutch Economic College in Rotterdam. He then spent five years in the economic research department at the Central Bureau of Statistics before working at Hunter Douglas International for many years. From 1975 to 1979 Pappenheim was on the policy committee of the Social and Economic Council before becoming a member of the Democrats 66 political party.