Isaac Albert Mosse (1 October 1846 – 31 May 1925) was a German

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

and legal scholar. Mosse's importance lies in his work on

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Meiji Constitution The Constitution of the Empire of Japan (Kyūjitai: ; Shinjitai: , ), known informally as the Meiji Constitution (, ''Meiji Kenpō''), was the constitution of the Empire of Japan which was proclaimed on February 11, 1889, and remained in for ...

and his continuation of Litthauer's Comments on the German Commercial Code.

Biography

Mosse was born into a prominent

Jew 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""Th ...

ish family in Grätz, in

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

Grand Duchy of Posen The Grand Duchy of Posen (german: Großherzogtum Posen; pl, Wielkie Księstwo Poznańskie) was part of the Kingdom of Prussia, created from territories annexed by Prussia after the Partitions of Poland, and formally established following the ...

. His father, Dr. Markus Mosse, was a noted physician, and the most distinguished of his six brothers was Rudolf Mosse. Mosse attended the '' gymnasiums'' in Lissa and in Goben. He then studied law at

Berlin University Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

in 1865 thanks to the financial support of his older brothers, and passed his first state examination in 1868, and the second one in 1873. He was a volunteer in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. He became an assistant judge in 1875, and was gradually elevated to the position of a county court judge at

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land ...

in 1876. Eventually, he was appointed judge of the state court in Berlin, which was the highest position a Jew was allowed to achieve in Germany at the time. In 1882, at the request of the German government, Mosse met with future

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...

Itō Hirobumi was a Japanese politician and statesman who served as the first Prime Minister of Japan. He was also a leading member of the ''genrō'', a group of senior statesmen that dictated Japanese policy during the Meiji era. A London-educated samur ...

and his group of government officials and scholars, who were touring

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

to research various forms of western style governments, and gave a series of lectures on

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

. Mosse is credited with having convinced Ito Hirobumi that the Prussian-style monarchical constitution was the best suited for Japan. In 1886, Mosse was invited to Japan on a three-year contract as a foreign advisor to the

Japanese government The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state, c ...

to assist Ito Hirobumi and

Inoue Kowashi Viscount Inoue Kowashi was a Japanese statesman of the Meiji period. Biography Early life Inoue was born into a ''samurai'' family in Higo Province (present-day Kumamoto Prefecture), as the third son of ''Karō'' Iida Gongobei. In 1866 Kow ...

in drafting the

Constitution of the Empire of Japan The Constitution of the Empire of Japan ( Kyūjitai: ; Shinjitai: , ), known informally as the Meiji Constitution (, ''Meiji Kenpō''), was the constitution of the Empire of Japan which was proclaimed on February 11, 1889, and remained in ...

. Afterwards, he worked on other important legal drafts, international agreements, and contracts and served as a cabinet advisor in the

Home Ministry An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

, assisting Prime Minister

Yamagata Aritomo ''Gensui (Imperial Japanese Army), Gensui'' Prince , also known as Prince Yamagata Kyōsuke, was a senior-ranking Japanese people, Japanese military commander, twice-elected Prime Minister of Japan, and a leading member of the ''genrō'', an � ...

in establishing the draft laws and systems for local government. He lived in Japan from 1886 to 1890. After leaving Japan, Mosse settled in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

to be a state supreme court judge. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Prussi ...

in 1903 and, during the following year, became honorary professor there for Civil

procedural law Procedural law, adjective law, in some jurisdictions referred to as remedial law, or rules of court, comprises the rules by which a court hears and determines what happens in civil, lawsuit, criminal or administrative proceedings. The rules are ...

and

Commercial law Commercial law, also known as mercantile law or trade law, is the body of law that applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of persons and business engaged in commerce, merchandising, trade, and sales. It is often considered to be a branc ...

. After his retirement in 1907, he returned to Berlin where he served on the City Council and advised the Berlin municipal administration on various legal matters. He took part in public affairs of the

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 ...

community.

Works

New edition of F. Litthauer's Comments on the Commercial Code 1905–1927.

Literature

* Ishii Shiro: ''Fast wie mein eigen Vaterland: Briefe aus Japan 1886–1889'' (''"Almost like my own Fatherland: Letters from Japan 1886–1889"''). Munich: Iudicium-Verlag 1995. * Kraus, Elisabeth: ''Die Familie Mosse: deutsch-jüdisches Bürgertum im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert'' (''"The Mosse family. German-Jewish Bourgeoisie during the 19th and 20th Century"''). Munich: Beck 1999. * Rott, Joachim: ''Albert Mosse (1846–1925), deutscher Jude und preußischer Richter'' (''"Albert Mosse (1846–1925), German Jew and Prussian Judge"''). In: Neue juristische Wochenschrift. Munich: Beck vol. 58 (2005), 9, p. 563

References

* Banno, Junji. ''The Establishment of the Japanese Constitutional System''. Routledge (1992). * Sims, Richard. ''Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868–2000''. Palgrave Macmillan. {{DEFAULTSORT:Moss, Isaac 1846 births 1925 deaths People from Grodzisk Wielkopolski 19th-century German Jews 20th-century German judges German jurists German expatriates in Japan People from the Grand Duchy of Posen People of the German Empire People of the Weimar Republic Foreign advisors to the government in Meiji-period Japan

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...