Nico Gunzburg (2 September 1882, Riga,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

– 5 March 1984, Antwerp,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

lawyer, criminologist and

centenarian A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100 years. Because life expectancies worldwide are below 100 years, the term is invariably associated with longevity. In 2012, the United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centen ...

. In 1885, his parents fled from Riga and settled in Antwerp.

Education

Nico Gunzburg attended high school at the Royal Athenaeum of Antwerp. He went on to study law at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles. During his time as a student, he started to engage himself for the

Flemish movement The Flemish Movement ( nl, Vlaamse Beweging) is an umbrella term which encompasses various political groups in the Belgian region of Flanders and, less commonly, in French Flanders. Ideologically, it encompasses groups which have sought to promo ...

and became President of ''Geen taal, geen vrijheid'' (English: No language, no freedom) in 1905–1906 and published his first scientific articles in Dutch. In addition he became involved in the ''Bond der Vlaamsche Rechtsgeleerden'' (English: League of Flemish lawyers) and the ''Vlaamsche Rechtskundige Congressen'' (English: Flemish legal conferences).

Career

After graduating, he started working as a lawyer in Antwerp. Between

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Nico Gunzburg lectured at the

University of Ghent Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...

, mainly on

criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

. Politically he was one of the supporters of the dutchification of the University of Ghent. He took the initiative to start a new committee to discuss the matter. The commission started officially in 1919 and defended the bill of 1911 of Louis Franck- Van Cauwelaert- Huysmans which, after many years of transitional measures, aimed at the usage of a single language (Dutch) for education in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

. In 1920 he established the Centrale Jewish Welfare Organisation which became the Royal Society of Jewish Welfare (Koninklijke Vereniging Centraal Beheer Joodse Weldadigheid en Maatschappellijk Hulpbetoon vzw) known as "The Centrale". Since 1989 his work at the Centrale has been taken over by another Russian-Jewish personality, economist and diplomat,

Alexander Zanzer Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

, who took over the Centrale Magazine and created its international edition C-news https://www.c-news.press/ In 1927, he was the first Belgian to publish a handbook on marital law in Dutch. For several years, he was a member of the commission to create a Dutch version of the Belgian constitution and other laws and legal decisions. "The library of Niko icGunzburg (1882–1984) of history, law and

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

culture, were confiscated by the ERR in January 1941, and shipped to Berlin in February 1941 in ten crates. Niko Gunzburg was a noted professor of law at the

, was a leading member of the Jewish community, a prominent Mason, and he was also a protest-activist against National Socialism in Belgium. Of his large library, only 200 books were returned after the war." Grimsted, Patricia Kennedy. Returned from Russia. Pages 217–218. During World War II, he stayed in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

where, among other things, he lectured a

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

. At the request of president

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

he contributed to the preparation of the

Nuremberg Trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945 ...

, in which the German war criminals were tried. After the war he stayed America for a while, where he worked within the framework of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

organization for the displaced people, and prisoners from the concentration camps, afterwards to return to Belgium. He continued to lecture in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

until 1952, but afterwards he contributed to the newly independent

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. He taught criminology, cooperated on the reform of the Indonesian police force, became an adviser to the prime minister and also became befriended with president

Sukarno Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of ...

. In 1956, Gunzburg returned to Antwerp where he remained active as a lawyer and as President of Jewish charities.

References

Vrije Universiteit Brussel profile

Bibliography

*Grimsted, Patricia Kennedy. 2007. Returned from Russia: Nazi Archival Plunder in Western Europe and Recent Restitution Issues. Edited by Patricia Kennedy Grimsted, F.J. Hoogewoud, and Eric Ketelaar. Institute of Art and Law (UK), 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunzburg, Nico 1882 births 1984 deaths Flemish lawyers Flemish activists Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) alumni Belgian centenarians Men centenarians Belgian Jews Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Belgium