Meijers, Eduard Maurits
MEIJERS, EDUARD MAURITS
MEIJERS, EDUARD MAURITS (1880–1954), Dutch jurist who as professor of law at Leiden University from 1910 to 1950 influenced several generations of Dutch lawyers. Born in Den Helder, Meijers was admitted to the bar in 1903. He practiced law in Amsterdam until 1910, when he was made professor of civil and private international law at Leiden University. He served this university both as dean and rector. After 1928 he was substitute counselor in the High Court of Justice at The Hague. Meijers' numerous books were largely devoted to the history of civil law. His work The Labor Contract (1908) became a standard treatise on the subject and was followed by Legal Decisions Regarding the Law on Labor Contracts (1909). His textbook on succession, Le droit ligurien de succession en Europe occidentale (1928), and his L'Histoire des principes fondamentaux du droit international privé à partir du Moyen Age (1934) brought him further distinction. Following the Nazi invasion of Holland, Meijers was dismissed from his post and was sent to the *Westerbork and *Theresienstadt camps for the duration of the war. His arrest led to a public demonstration by students at Leiden. The dean, Professor R.P. Cleveringa, gave a famous address, protesting against Meijers' arrest. Cleveringa himself was imprisoned for this speech. After World War ii, Meijers was commissioned to draft a new civil code for Holland, but died before its completion. He was chairman of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences from 1945 until 1949.
add. bibliography:
R. Feenstra, in: Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland (1979), s.v.
[Henriette Boas /
Bart Wallet (2nd ed.)]