Robert Tamsma (1922–2005): Teacher, reporter, regional geographer

Abstract Besides authoring ‘The Northern Netherlands: large problem area in a small country, small problem area in a large economic community’, Robert Tamsma (1922–2005) was an important bridging figure between two eras in the history of Dutch geography. In several ways, we can consider him a modern geographer in the 1960s, but he quickly became seen as the last of the old regionalist guard in the 1970s. Resultantly, his often‐innovative contributions are almost forgotten like he was a ‘prophet in the desert’. This article re‐evaluates Tamsma’s contributions to academic geography, Dutch school geography, public geography, the Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie ( TESG ) and research on Dutch peripheral eras. These contributions are contextualised in a biographical sketch of Tamsma’s career based on archival and interview materials that have recently become available.