Early Life and Career
Samsom was born in Groningen and raised in Leeuwarden. His father worked as an internist and his mother as a physiotherapist. Between 1983 and 1989, he attended the Municipal Gymnasium (Dutch: Stedelijk Gymnasium) in Leeuwarden. There he became interested in physics, so he went on to study Applied Physics (Dutch: "Technische Natuurkunde") at Delft University of Technology. Samsom specialised in nuclear physics and became a level three radiation expert. He graduated in May 1997, obtaining a Dutch Engineer's degree (In Dutch: Ingenieur). He was also on the board of the National Students' Union LSVb and edited a yearly edition of the Poenboek, a students' guide concerning monetary issues.
Samsom had been involved in environmentalism long before entering politics. Samsom joined environmental organisation Greenpeace Netherlands in September 1995 as a volunteer. He led several campaigns and projects until he quit in December 2001, when the PvdA approached him offering a career in politics. He also worked as the CEO of Real Energy (Dutch: Echte Energie), a small green energy trading company, from August 2002 until January 2003.
Read more about this topic: Diederik Samsom
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