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Peter Bossman (born 2 November 1955) is a Ghana-born Slovenia physician and politician. He was mayor of Piran, a city and municipality in Slovenian Istria in south-western Slovenia, from 2010 to 2018. A member of the centre-left Social Democrats, he defeated the incumbent mayor Tomaž Gantar in the October 2010 mayoral election to become Slovenia's first black mayor. In 2011 he was also appointed to the Committee of the Regions of the European Union. Data sheet at the CoR
Following a 1966 coup that saw members of the National Liberation Council overthrow Nkrumah's elected government, Bossman was forced to leave Ghana. He was unable to come to Britain, where he had originally hoped to study, and so chose to come to Yugoslavia, originally hoping to study in Belgrade. He was ultimately sent to Ljubljana, however, arriving as a medical student in what was then the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, within Yugoslavia, in 1977. He has said that he "fell in love" with Slovenia when he arrived, finding it "clean and green". While he was studying, he remained politically active, heading an African students' organisation.
His original intention to return to Ghana upon completing his studies was disrupted when he fell in love with a Croats woman, Karmen Laković, a fellow student. After completing his studies, he and Karmen, also a doctor, settled in Piran, where they run a Medical practice. They are now married and have two daughters.
Bossman's campaign focused on encouraging people to drive , building a golf course to promote tourism, and promoting local products. He has also pledged to work to try to improve Croatia–Slovenia relations, which have been recently strained over a number of minor border disputes. ( English translation) Bossman has stated that race was not much of an issue during the election, although he did receive criticism on account of his supposed lack of fluency in Slovene language. He has stated that a friend, a professor of Slovene, has offered to give him additional lessons.
Bossman officially took office at the first (constitutive) meeting of the municipal council on 12 November 2010. ( English translation) His inauguration as mayor attracted more members of the media, including international media, than there were council members present. ( English translation)
Bossman was re-elected for a second term as mayor on 19 October 2014.
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