View source for Tobias Asser

{{Short description|Dutch lawyer and academic (1838–1913)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox academic
| honorific_prefix   = 
| name               = Tobias Asser
| honorific_suffix   = 
| image              = TMCasser.jpg
| image_size         = 250px
| alt                = Black and white photo of the head of a man
| caption            = Tobias Asser in 1911
| birth_name         = Tobias Michel Karel Asser
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1838|04|28|df=yes}}
| birth_place        = [[Amsterdam]], Netherlands
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1913|07|29|1838|04|28|df=yes}}
| death_place        = [[The Hague]], Netherlands
| death_cause        = 
| nationality        = 
| citizenship        = 
| other_names        = 
| occupation         = 
| period             = 
| known_for          = Founder of the [[Permanent Court of Arbitration]]
| title              = 
| boards             = 
| spouse             = {{marriage|Johanna Ernestina Asser|1864}}
| partner            = 
| children           = 
| parents            = Carel Daniël Asser sr. (father)<br/>Rosette Godefroi (mother)
| relatives          = 
| awards             = [[Nobel Peace Prize]] (1911)
| website            = 
| education          = 
| alma_mater         = [[University of Amsterdam]], <br/>[[Leiden University]] ([[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])
| thesis_title       = Geschiedenis der beginselen van het Nederlandsche Staatsregt omtrent het bestuur der buitenlandsche betrekkingen
| thesis_url         = 
| thesis_year        = 1860
| school_tradition   = 
| doctoral_advisor   = [[Simon Vissering]]
| academic_advisors  = 
| influences         = 
| era                = 
| discipline         = [[Public international law]]<br/>[[Private international law]]
| sub_discipline     = 
| workplaces         = [[University of Amsterdam]]
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}}
'''Tobias Michael Carel Asser''' ({{IPA|nl|ˈtoːbijɑs miˈɕɛl ˈkaːrəl ˈɑsər}}; 28 April 1838 – 29 July 1913) was a Dutch lawyer and [[legal scholar]].
In 1911, he won the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] (together with [[Alfred Fried]]) for his role in the establishment of the [[Permanent Court of Arbitration]] at the First [[First Hague Peace Conference|Hague Peace Conference in 1899]] and for his achievements in establishing the [[Hague Conference on Private International Law]] (HCCH).

==Life==
Tobias Michael Carel Asser was born on 28 April 1838 in [[Amsterdam]], the Netherlands, in a Jewish family.<ref>[https://www.asser.nl/about-the-asser-institute/news/in-quest-of-liberty-justice-and-peace-a-new-biography-on-asser-s-private-and-public-life/ In quest of liberty, justice, and peace: a new biography on Asser’s private and public life]. Asser Institute. Retrieved on 22 July 2023.</ref><ref>{{in lang|nl}} C. G. Roelofsen, "[http://www.inghist.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/BWN/lemmata/bwn2/asser Asser, Tobias Michel Karel (1838–1913)]", ''[[Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland]]'', 2013. Retrieved on 5 May 2015.</ref> He was the son of Carel Daniel Asser (1813–1885) and grandson of [[Carel Asser]] (1780–1836). He studied law at the [[University of Amsterdam]] and [[Leiden University]] and was a law professor at the University of Amsterdam.

Asser co-founded the ''Revue de Droit International et de Législation Comparée'' with [[John Westlake (law scholar)|John Westlake]] and [[Gustave Rolin-Jaequemyns]].  He also co-founded the [[Institut de Droit International]]<ref name="AJILMem">{{cite journal| title = In Memoriam: T. M. C. Asser | publisher = [[American Society of International Law]]|date=April 1914| journal = [[American Journal of International Law]]| volume = 8|issue = 2| pages = 343–44| doi = 10.1017/S0002930000769867 | doi-access = free}}</ref> in 1873. In 1880 he became a member of the [[Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/biografie/pmknaw/?pagetype=authorDetail&aId=PE00000068 |title=Tobias Michaël Carel Asser (1838–1913) |publisher=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences |access-date=26 July 2015}}</ref>

=== The Hague Conference on Private International Law ===
Asser was a leading legal mind in the area of private international law and firmly believed that sound legal frameworks that govern private cross-border relationships would promote peace and stability. In 1893, Asser initiated the convocation of the First Diplomatic Session of the HCCH, the preeminent global organisation in the area of [[private international law]]. The participating States were Austria-Hungary, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, and Switzerland. Asser was elected the Session's President, and subsequently re-elected at the Second to Fourth Session which took place in 1894, 1900 and 1904 respectively. Under his leadership, the HCCH developed some multilateral treaties, the Hague Conventions, that unified the rules of private international law in the areas of [https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/the-old-conventions/1902-marriage-convention Marriage (1902)], [https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/the-old-conventions/1902-divorce-convention Divorce (1902)], [https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/the-old-conventions/1902-guardianship-convention Guardianship (1902)], [https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/the-old-conventions/1905-civil-procedure-convention Civil Procedure (1905)], [https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/the-old-conventions/1905-effects-of-marriage-convention Effects of Marriage (1905)], and [https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/the-old-conventions/1905-deprivation-of-civil-rights-convention Deprivation of Civil Rights (1905)].

In 1911, Asser received the [[Nobel Peace Prize]]. In his Award Ceremony Speech on 10 December 1911, Chairman of the Nobel Committee [[Jørgen Løvland|Jørgen Gunnarsson Løvland]] emphasised specifically Asser's work in the field of private international law, and his achievements in establishing the HCCH, as reasons for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, describing Asser as "a successor to or reviver of The Netherlands' pioneer work in international law in the seventeenth century", the [[Hugo Grotius]] of his time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1911/asser-facts.html|title=Tobias Asser – Facts|website=nobelprize.org|access-date=3 November 2017}}</ref>

=== The Hague Peace Conferences ===
He was a delegate of the Netherlands to both [[Hague Peace Conferences|Hague Peace Conferences in 1899 and 1907]], where he urged the principle of compulsory arbitration be introduced in the economic area<ref>{{Cite web |title=Busts {{!}} PCA-CPA |url=https://pca-cpa.org/en/about/the-peace-palace/busts/ |access-date=2024-12-13 |language=en}}</ref> and contributed to the creation of the [[Permanent Court of Arbitration]] as the first global mechanism for the peaceful settlement of international disputes.<ref name="AJILMem" />

=== The Permanent Court of Arbitration ===
In 1902, he sat on the first arbitration panel to hear an international controversy brought by two states under the auspice of the [[Permanent Court of Arbitration]], which was established as a result of the [[Hague Peace Conference]] of 1899 (the [[Pious Fund of the Californias]] Case<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cases {{!}} PCA-CPA |url=https://pca-cpa.org/en/cases/75/ |access-date=2024-12-13 |language=en}}</ref>).  He also took a hand in the establishment of what would become [[The Hague Academy of International Law]], though he did not live to see its foundation in 1923.<ref name="AJILMem" />

Asser died on 29 July 1913 in The Hague.

==Namesake==
A research institute in the fields of Private and Public International Law, [[European Law]] and International Commercial Arbitration is named after Tobias Michael Carel Asser. This is the [[T.M.C. Asser Instituut]], based in [[The Hague]], Netherlands.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tobias M.C. Asser |url=https://www.asser.nl/about-the-asser-institute/tobias-mc-asser/ |access-date=26 April 2022 |website=T.M.C. Asser Instituut |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of Jewish Nobel laureates]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
*[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=2034&letter=A&search=asser Tobias Michael Carel Asser], biography in the [[Jewish Encyclopedia]]
*{{Nobelprize}}

{{Nobel Peace Prize Laureates 1901-1925}}
{{1911 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Nobel Prize laureates from The Netherlands|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asser, Tobias}}
[[Category:1838 births]]
[[Category:1913 deaths]]
[[Category:Nobel Peace Prize laureates]]
[[Category:Dutch Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:19th-century Dutch lawyers]]
[[Category:20th-century Dutch lawyers]]
[[Category:Dutch Jews]]
[[Category:Dutch legal scholars]]
[[Category:The Hague Academy of International Law people]]
[[Category:International law scholars|Asser, T.M.C.]]
[[Category:Jewish Dutch scientists]]
[[Category:Leiden University alumni]]
[[Category:Members of the Institut de Droit International]]
[[Category:Members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Academy of Belgium]]
[[Category:Delegates to the Hague Peace Conferences]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Amsterdam]]
[[Category:University of Amsterdam alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam]]
[[Category:Dutch judges of international courts and tribunals]]