Julius Christiaan van Oven

Julius Christiaan van Oven

Julius Christiaan van Oven (born November 17, 1881 in Dordrecht , † March 16, 1963 in Leiden ) was a Dutch legal scholar and politician.

Life

Julius Christian came from an originally Jewish family. He was born as the son of the rector of the high school Adolph Samuel van Oven (born October 26, 1837 in The Hague; † August 17, 1915 in Dordrecht) and his second wife Susanne Julie van Deventer (born February 28, 1856 in Dordrecht; † 13 March 1935 ibid.) Born. He himself had attended the higher middle school in Dordrecht and in 1898 switched to the local high school A. After passing the Abitur, he moved to the University of Amsterdam in 1900 , where he studied law and where above all Johannes Fredericus Houwing (born April 17, 1857 in Blokzijl ; † March 10, 1921 in Doorn) became his formative teacher. Under this van Oven received his doctorate on December 15, 1905 with the work De Bezitsbescherming en hare functies (German: The property security and its functions ). He then worked as a lawyer in Amsterdam from 1905 to 1907 and in 1907 became editor of foreign affairs for the newspaper Het Nieuws van den Dag . During his journalism phase, he also published a number of articles in legal journals covering civil, labor, criminal law and Roman law.

On June 1, 1917, he was appointed professor of Roman law and history at the University of Groningen , which he assumed on September 29, 1917 with the introductory speech Verleden en Toekomst (German: Past and Future ). On November 29, 1924, he was appointed professor of Roman law and history at the University of Leiden , which he held on March 11, 1925 with the inaugural speech Over de beteekenis der historical beoefening van het Romeinscherecht voor de study van het hedendaagsche private law (German: About the importance of the historical exercise of Roman law, for the studies of today's private law ) took over. Van Oven founded the Nederlands Juristenblad (NJB) magazine in 1925 , which merged with the Weekblad van het Recht magazine in 1936 . He was also co-editor of the journals Nederlands Juristenblad , Tijdschrift voor Rechtsgeschiedenis (TvR) and Weekblad voor Privaatrecht, Notarisambt en Registratief (WPNR), for which he contributed numerous articles. In 1935, together with Bernard Abraham van Groningen and Martin David, he set up the Leiden Papyrological Cabinet , which in 1962 became part of the Leiden Papyrological Institute .

During the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940-1945) in World War II , after the arrest of Rudolph Cleveringa in November 1941, he was dean of the law faculty, in which capacity he campaigned against the National Socialist orientation of the university. He was therefore threatened with imprisonment. Thereupon he submitted his release, was discharged from his professorship on March 11, 1942 and spent the occupation period in exile in Boekelo . After the occupation he took up his professorship again on May 5, 1945. As a consultant at the Special Court in The Hague , he worked as a judge in the trial against the Dutch National Socialist leader Anton Mussert . From 1946 van Oven was involved in the Vrijzinnig Democratische Bond (VDB) and in the Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA). In the academy year 1947/48 he became rector of the Leiden Alma Mater , for which he gave the rector's speech on February 9, 1948, the rector's speech der rechtsgeschiedenis (German: Magic of Legal History) and in which capacity he awarded Jan Christiaan Smuts an honorary doctorate from the Leiden University.

In 1948 he became a member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences , was a member of the Society for Dutch Literature in Leiden and the Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten . In 1951 he became a Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion and in 1956 he became Commander of the Order of Orange Nassau . After reaching the age of 70, he retired from his professorship on December 1, 1951, whereupon the necessary royal decision was made on September 15, 1952. After some time the retirement phase, van Oven was after the death of Leendert Antonie Donker (born September 7, 1899 in Almkerk; † 4 February 1956 Rotterdam), by the Dutch Prime Minister Willem Drees on 15 February 1956 in its second cabinet as Minister of Justice appointed and worked for this from 7 July 1956 as Minister of the Interior. This brief political interlude ended with the dissolution of the cabinet on October 13, 1956. In the last years of his life, from 1959, he devoted himself to the Leiden refugee aid, of which he was chairman.

family

Van Oven married on January 7, 1909 in Haarlem with the later children's book author Maria Cornelia van Doorn (born June 17, 1885 in Den Helder, † November 5, 1957 in Leiden), the daughter of the lieutenant captain of the Dutch navy Marinus Cornelis van Doorn ( * October 29, 1846 in Haarlem; † August 7, 1892 in Weltevreden) and his wife Anna Georgina Derx, who married on August 24, 1876 (* around 1855 in Haarlem; † October 3, 1892 ibid.). There are three sons and two daughters from the marriage. From the children we know:

• Anna van Oven (born February 1, 1910 in Amsterdam) married. December 29, 1928 in Leiden with Karel Frederik Vaas (born October 29, 1911 in Arnhem; † April 27, 1980 in Yerseke)
• Adolf (Dolf) van Oven (* February 18, 1911 in Amsterdam; † March 21, 1983 in 's-Hertogenbosch) Professor of Commercial Law in Leiden, m. Elisabeth (Elly) Kröner (* October 24, 1914 - † September 8, 1993 in Oisterwijk)
• Conrad van Oven (born August 29, 1913 in Amsterdam, † March 24, 1996 in Groningen) married. December 24, 1942 in Dordrecht with Magdalena Wilhelmina van Heurn (born November 2, 1917 in The Hague; † March 20, 2008 in Groningen)
• Jules van Oven (born May 5, 1916 in Amsterdam; † December 17, 1942 ibid.)
• Elisabeth van Oven (born November 29, 1925 in Leiden), married. July 17, 1947 in Leiden with Francois Gérard Rotteveel Mansveld (born December 3, 1917 in The Hague; † January 31, 2007 in Amsterdam)

Works (selection)

• De bezitsbescherming en hare functies. Amsterdam 1905
• Mr. Conrad Theodor van Deventer, born te Dordrecht 29 September, overleden te The Hague 27 September 1915. Amsterdam 1915
• Verleden en toekomst. Zwolle 1917
• Praeadvies over causa en levering. The Hague 1924
• Over de beteekenis the historical beoefening van het Romeinsche right voor de study van het hedendaagsche private law. Zwolle 1925
• Romeinschrechtelijke teksten. Zwolle 1925–1927, 2nd vol.
• Levensverzekering en Burgerlijk law. The Hague, 1931
• Overzicht van Romeins private law. Zwolle 1934; 2nd edition 1938; 3rd edition 1945; 4th edition 1947; 5th edition 1954; 7th edition 1964;
• Leerboek van Romeinsch private law. Leiden 1945; 2nd edition 1946; 3rd edition 1948
• De bekoring the right divorce. Zwolle 1948, 1952
• Testament. Arnhem 1951
• What jurist? Leiden 1952

literature

• GE Langemeijer: Levens report JC van Oven. In: Jaarboek of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, 1963-1964. Amsterdam, pp. 476–489 ( Online PDF )
• R. Feenstra: Oven, Julius Christiaan van (1881-1963). In: Biographical Woordenboek van Nederland. (BWN) Den Haag, 1979, vol. 1, p. 440 ( online )
• BA van Groningen: Julius Christiaan van Oven (Dordrecht, November 17, 1881-Leiden, May 15, 1963). In: Jaarboek van de Maatschappij of the Nederlandse Letterkunde te Leiden, 1964-1965. EJ Brill, Leiden, 1965, pp. 107-110.
• Prof. mr. JC van Oven 70 years. In: Leidsch Dagblad. November 14, 1951, p. 2 ( online )
• Oud minister prof. mr. JC van Oven overled. In: Leidsch Dagblad. March 18, 1963, p. 6 ( online )

Web links

• Oven in the Parliamentary Documentation Center of Leiden University
• Oven at the digital library of Dutch literature (DBNL)
• Oven at the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences
• Oven in the professorial catalog of the University of Leiden