Several hundred mourners attended the funeral here Wednesday of Maurits Kopuit, editor for 20 years of the Dutch Jewish weekly Nieuw Israelietisch Weekblad, who was reputedly the best-known Jewish personality in Holland.
He died Monday while undergoing heart surgery, at the age of 62.
An individualist, iconoclast and controversial figure who attracted legions of friends and hordes of enemies, Kopuit was a relentless critic of the Jewish establishment.
But he opened his op-ed page to all shades of opinion and his newspaper was widely read by non-Jews as well as Jews.
Born in Amsterdam, Kopuit lost his father in World War II while he was hidden in Nazi-occupied Holland. He went to work after the war for the leading Dutch daily, Algemeen Handelsblad.
Kopuit was appointed editor of the Jewish weekly in 1971. His successor has not been named.
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