Jean Marie Pardessus (August 11, 1772 – May 27, 1853) was a French lawyer.

Life

He was born at Blois, and educated by the Oratorians, then studied law, at first under his father, a lawyer at the Presidial, who was a pupil of

Robert Joseph Pothier Robert Joseph Pothier (9 January 1699 – 2 March 1772) was a French jurist. Life He was born and passed away at Orléans. He studied law to qualify for the magistracy, and was appointed Judge in 1720 of the Presidial Court of Orléans, following ...

. In 1796, after the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (french: link=no, la Terreur) was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the First Republic, a series of massacres and numerous public executions took place in response to revolutionary fervour, ...

, Pardessus married, but his wife died after three years. A widower at the age of twenty-seven, he refused to remarry and give his children a stepmother. His ''Traité des servitudes'' (1806) went through eight editions, and his ''Traité du contrat et des lettres de change'' (1809) pointed him out as fitted for the chair of commercial law recently formed at the faculty of law at Paris. The emperor, however, had insisted that the position should be open to competition. Pardessus entered (1810) and was successful over two other candidates, André MJJ Dupin and Persil, who afterwards became brilliant lawyers. His lectures were published under the title ''Cours de droit commercial'' (4 volumes, 1813–1817). In 1815 Pardessus was elected deputy for the department of

Loir-et-Cher Loir-et-Cher (, ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. Its name is originated from two rivers which cross it, the Loir in its northern part and the Cher in its southern part. Its prefecture is Blois. The INSEE and La P ...

, and from 1820 to 1830 was constantly re-elected; then, however, he refused to take the oath of allegiance to

Louis Philippe Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary War ...

, and was deprived of his office. After the publication of the first volume of his ''Collection des lois maritimes antérieures au XVIIIème siècle'' (1828) he was elected a member of the

Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

. He continued his collection of maritime laws (4 vols., 1828–1845), and published ''Les us et coutumes de la mer'' (2 volumes, 1847). He also brought out two volumes of

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

diplomas (Diplomata, chartae, epistolae, leges, 1843–1849); volumes iv.-vi. of the ''Table chronologique des diplômes''; and volume xxi. of ''Ordonnances des rois de France'' (1849), preceded by an ''Essai sur l'ancienne organisation judiciaire'', which was reprinted in part in 1851. In 1843 Pardessus published a critical edition of the ''Loi salique'', followed by 14 dissertations, which greatly advanced the knowledge of the subject. He died at Pimpeneau near Blois.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Pardessus, Jean Marie People from Blois 1772 births 1853 deaths 18th-century French lawyers 19th-century French lawyers Court of Cassation (France) judges Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Bourbon Restoration 19th-century French judges