Portrait of Theo Van Gogh, Taken in 2004, Was Captured the Same Year He Was Murdered

This photo of Theo van Gogh, taken in 2004, was captured the same year he was murdered. A great-grandson of Vincent van Gogh’s brother, Theo, he was killed on November 2, 2004, by a radical Islamist for his controversial film Submission, which criticized the treatment of women in Islam.

At approximately 9 a.m. on the morning of November 2, 2004, Van Gogh was shot several times and had his throat slit while cycling to work. The perpetrator, 26-year-old Dutch-Moroccan citizen Mohammed Bouyeri, also injured some bystanders and left a note pinned to Van Gogh’s stomach with a knife containing death threats to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who went into hiding. The note also threatened Western countries and Jews, and referred to ideologies of the Egyptian organization Jama’at al-Muslimin.

Bouyeri was apprehended by police after a chase. Authorities alleged that he had terrorist ties with the Dutch Islamist Hofstad Network. He was charged with the attempted murder of several police officers and bystanders, illegal possession of a firearm, and conspiring to murder others, including Hirsi Ali. He was convicted at trial on July 26, 2005, and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. The murder sparked outrage and grief throughout the Netherlands. Flowers, notes, drawings and other expressions of mourning were left at the scene of the murder.

The primary motive for the murder was Van Gogh’s 2004 short film, Submission. The film, written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, criticized the treatment of women in Islam and featured scenes of Quranic verses written on the bodies of women. This work was deeply offensive to some religious extremists and led to the fatal retaliation. 

Van Gogh’s murder had a profound impact on Dutch society, sparking intense national debates over freedom of speech, multiculturalism, and the integration of immigrants. It is often cited as a turning point that ended an era of perceived “tolerance” in the Netherlands regarding radical religious ideologies.