Eduard Meijers

{{Short description|Dutch jurist (1880–1954)}} {{use dmy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Expand language|topic=bio|langcode=nl|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox academic | honorific_prefix =  | name = | honorific_suffix = | image = Professoren, E.M. Meijers, SFA022819328 (cropped).jpg | image_size = | alt = A middle-aged man in a suit and a brimmed cap with a dressy winter coat | caption = Meijers in 1917 | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{birth date|1880|01|10|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Den Helder]], Netherlands | death_date = {{death date and age|1954|06|25|1880|01|10|df=y}} | death_place = [[Leiden]], Netherlands | death_cause = | other_names = | occupation = | known_for = Developing the [[Burgerlijk Wetboek|Dutch Civil Code]] | title = | boards =  | spouse = {{marriage|Tonij Gottschalk|1909}} | partner = | children = 4 | parents = | relatives = | awards =  | website = | education = | alma_mater = [[University of Amsterdam]] | thesis_title = Dogmatische rechtswetenschap | thesis_url = https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMSFUBA02:000008554 | thesis_year = 1903 | school_tradition = | doctoral_advisor = {{ill|Johannes Houwing|nl}} | academic_advisors = | influences =  | discipline = [[Law]] | sub_discipline = {{hlist|[[Private law]]|[[private international law]]}} | workplaces = [[Leiden University]] | doctoral_students = {{hlist|[[Rudolph Cleveringa]]|[[Derk Spitzen]]|[[Arthur Diemer Kool]]|[[Pieter Godfried Maria van Meeuwen]]|[[Franz Lichtenauer]]|[[Johannes Christiaan de Wet]]|[[Pieter verLoren van Themaat]]}} | notable_students = | main_interests = | notable_works = | notable_ideas = | influenced =  | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | footnotes = }} '''Eduard Maurits Meijers''' (10 January 1880 in [[Den Helder]] – 25 June 1954 in [[Leiden]]) was a Dutch jurist of [[Dutch Jews|Jewish]] background, who was the founding father of the current Dutch [[civil code]], the [[Burgerlijk Wetboek|Nieuw Burgerlijk Wetboek]].

== Biography ==

=== Family === He was the son of Isidor Meijers, a [[Dutch Navy]] physician, and Julie Wolff. Eduard married Tonij Gottschalk on 12 August 1909. The couple had four daughters.

=== Career === In 1897, Meijers entered the [[University of Amsterdam]] to study law. He finished his doctorate under Johannes Houwing in April 1903. His dissertation had an emphasis on philosophy, defending [[utilitarianism]] against [[Immanuel Kant|Kant]]'s [[rationalism]] and posing that in general, well-being should be the final goal of every law institution.

After his studies, he ran a law practice in Amsterdam. In 1910, he accepted a chair in [[private law]] and [[private international law]] at [[Leiden University]]. He was particularly interested in [[legal history]], and his publications were of great influence on the development of this field in the Netherlands. He became internationally recognised and received [[honorary degree]]s from the universities of Aberdeen, Brussels, Glasgow, [[Leuven]], [[Lille]] and Paris. In 1920 Meijers became member of the [[Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=E.M. Meijers (1880 - 1954) |url=http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/biografie/pmknaw/?pagetype=authorDetail&aId=PE00001831 |accessdate=30 July 2015 |publisher=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences}}</ref> From 1918 to 1922 Meijers was [[dean (education)|dean]] of the law faculty in Leiden; in 1926 and 1927 he was [[Rector (academia)|rector]] of the university.

=== Second World War === The firing of Meijers and other Jewish scientists in 1940 by the German occupiers led Meijers' former graduate student [[Rudolph Cleveringa]] to give a widely acclaimed and consequential protest address on 26 November 1940. He was forced to resign from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1942, although he was re-admitted after the war in 1945.<ref name=":0" /> On 7 August 1942 Meijers, his wife and their youngest daughter were deported to the [[Westerbork transit camp]], on to [[Camp Barneveld]] as part of [[Plan Frederiks]], and back to Westerbork in September 1943.{{sfn|de Jong|1978|p=710}} In September 1944 he was transported to the [[Theresienstadt concentration camp]] in [[Bohemia]]. He survived the camps and returned to Leiden on 25 June 1945.

=== A new Dutch civil code === On 25 April 1947 Meijers was tasked by [[royal decree]] with the drafting of a new [[civil code]] for the Netherlands (the [[Burgerlijk Wetboek]]) to replace the current code, which had been in place since 1838. In 1954, Meijers handed over the design for the first four books, accompanied with an extensive explanation. After Meijers' death that same year, his work was continued by Jan Drion, Jannes Eggens, Frits de Jong and Geert de Grooth. The first book of the new civil code was codified in 1970, the second in 1976. The last four of the seven books were codified only in 1992, 45 years after Meijers had started the work.

== References == {{reflist}}

== Sources == * [http://www.chavannes.net/assets/meijers.pdf E.M. Meijers and the Recodification of the Dutch Civil Code after World War II"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723041334/http://www.chavannes.net/assets/meijers.pdf |date=2011-07-23 }} * [http://www.research.leiden.edu/famous/meijers.html Leiden University biography] * {{cite book|last=de Jong|first=Lou|title= Het Koninkrijk Der Nederlanden In De Tweede Wereldoorlog 1939-1945, Deel 8, Tweede helft|location=The Hague|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff|year=1978|language=nl|isbn=902472077X}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meijers, Eduard}} [[Category:1880 births]] [[Category:1954 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century Dutch Jews]] [[Category:20th-century Dutch lawyers]] [[Category:Dutch legal scholars]] [[Category:Jewish scientists]] [[Category:Academic staff of Leiden University]] [[Category:Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences]] [[Category:Westerbork transit camp survivors]] [[Category:People from Den Helder]] [[Category:Theresienstadt Ghetto survivors]] [[Category:University of Amsterdam alumni]]