Jan de Louter
Jan de Louter (3 August 1847 – 8 March 1932) was a Dutch constitutional and international lawyer.
Biography
Jan was born in Amersfoort, the son of the notary Johannes de Louter (1810–1891) and his second wife Aletta van Leuvenigh Willink (1818– 1888), who had been married to him since 12 June 1846. After attending schools in Amersfoort, he began studying law at the University of Utrecht in 1865. Here Cornelis Willem Opzoomer, Barthold Jacob Lintelo de Geer van Jutphaas, Jacobus Anthonie Fruin, and Otto van Rees (jurist) (1825–1868) became his formative teachers. On June 21, 1869, he was awarded a doctorate in law with the thesis De beperkingen der rechtsbevoegdheid ten gevolge van vermindering der burgerlijke eer.
In 1870, at his father's request, he became a notary public and worked as a lawyer in his birthplace. Intending to become involved in Dutch India, he studied Indology at Leiden University from 1871 to 1872. In 1872 he became a teacher of Indonesian language, regional and ethnology at the Gymnasium Willem III in Jakarta.
On September 12, 1877, he was appointed professor of Islamic law, history and constitutional law of the Netherlands Indies at the University of Amsterdam. He assumed this post on November 17, 1877, with the inaugural lecture Over het mohammedaansch recht in Nederlandsch-Indië. On July 27, 1879, he was appointed professor of Dutch constitutional and administrative law, international law, and philosophy of law at the University of Utrecht. He took office on October 18, 1879, with the inaugural lecture Het verband der staats-wetenschappen. At Utrecht University, he also participated in university administration and was rector of the alma mater in 1898/99. In addition, from 1897 to 1901 he had the task of instructing Queen Wilhelmina in constitutional law.
Louter was a foreign member of the Institute of International Law, became a corresponding member of the American Institute of International Law in Washington DC in 1916, and a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1883. He was a Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion. He also served as a member of the Utrecht City Council, was a member of the Provincial States of Utrecht, a member of the Liberal Party, and became a co-founder of the Free Liberal Party. From 1905 to 1920 he lectured on Indonesian constitutional law at the Higher War College in The Hague. After resigning his full professorship on October 1, 1912, he became associate professor of international law on April 23, 1913, with his inaugural lecture Volkenrecht en statensouvereiniteit, until he became emeritus professor in 1919. He spent the last years of his life in Hilversum, where his eldest daughter lived.
After his death, he was buried in Utrecht at his own request.
Family
Louter married Wilhelmina Louisa Lagers (1847–1939) on 13 June 1872 in Rotterdam, the daughter of the priest Georg Hendrik Gideon Lagers (1806–1854) and his wife Catharina Agnesa Oldenburg (1812–1905), who had been married to him since June 23, 1836 in Amsterdam. Children from this marriage were:
- Aletta de Louter (31 March 1873 – 30 October 1950)
- Catharina Petronella de Louter (29 March 1879 – 9 December 1879)
- Johannes de Louter (17 September 1880 – 4 December 1954) married 14 August 1918 in Nijmegen to Johanna Huiberta Gerretsen (1890–1982)
- Georg Hendrik Gideon de Louter (13 January 1882 – 2 November 1882)
See also
Works
- De beperkingen der rechtsbevoegdheid ten gevole van vermindering der burgerlijke eer (1869)
- Handboek van het staats- en administratief recht van Nederlandsch-Indië (1875)
- L'annexion du Transvaal (1881)
- Handleiding tot de kennis van het staats -en administratief recht van Nederlandsch-Indië (1884)
- Het ontwerp der grondwetscommissie en het kiesrecht (1885)
- La Guerre Sud-africaine (1902)
- Levensbericht van Pieter Anthonie van der Lith (1902)
- Liberale concentratie (1905)
- Het stellig Volkenrecht (1910)
- De arbitrage in het Noord-Atlantisch visscherij-geschil (1911)
- L'avenir du droit international public (1912)
- Afscheidswoord tot leerlingen en oudleerlingen bij het sluiten zijner colleges (1912)
- Nederlands internationale stelling (1912)
- Nederland en Amerika (1918)
- De Volkenbond. Een mijlpaal op de weg der rechtsontwikkeling (1920)
- Le droit international positif (1920)
- Woodrow Wilson, eene karakterschets (1924)
References
- Roelofsen, C.G. (1985). "Louter, Jan de (1847-1932)". In: Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland. Den Haag.
