Michał Pius Römer
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Michał Pius Römer (later using the Lithuanian form Mykolas Römeris) (1880 in Bagdoniškis – 1945 in Vilnius) was a Lithuanian-Polish
lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
, scientist and politician.


Biography


Early years

Römer was born in Lithuania into a Polish noble family of
Baltic-German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were Germans, ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly ...
( Livonian) origin. He was one of
szlachta The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in the ...
members loyal to the heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, referred to as Krajowcy. His father was Michał Kazimierz Römer and mother was Konstancja Tukałło. He attended the Law School in Sankt-Peterburg (1893–1901) and later studied history in Kraków (1901–1902), after that he moved to Paris to study in
École des sciences politiques , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...
(1902–1905). In Paris, he belonged to the organisation "Spójnia", where he headed the group "Lithuania", and was closely related to the . He gave the lecture on cultural-ethnographic situation in Lithuania in
Café Voltaire Café Voltaire, named after the writer and philosopher Voltaire, was a former café and restaurant located on Place de l'Odeon in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. The café was open from the early 19th century until the middle of t ...
, together with another Lithuanian activist, Tadas Ivanauskas. It was later published in Kraków by "Krytyka" under a title: ''Stosunki etnograficzno-kulturalne na Litwie''. In 1905, he returned to Lithuania, where he began to work for the restoration of Lithuanian statehood, not dominated by any nationalism. As he put it, he tried to persuade the Poles settled in Lithuania to have "a common national citizenship ( pl, obywatelstwo krajowe) without renouncing cultural and national distinctions". To this end, he and founded the "Gazeta Wileńska", which was published from 15 February 1906. The radical paper was soon closed, on 7 July that year, although it already had 2,000 subscribers. Romer had to flee to Kraków, for fear of being arrested. In 1908 he wrote ''Lithuania: Study of national revival'' (''Litwa: studium odrodzenia narodowego''). In his work he justified the rights of Lithuanians to their own statehood. He refuted accusations that Lithuanian activists were Russian agents. He also defended the right of Lithuanian Poles to preserve their own identity in the future Lithuanian state. Later that year he came back to Vilnius, when he continued his publicist work. He wrote works on Poles in Lithuania and Ruthenia and on Lithuanians in East Prussia (''Litwini w Prusach Książęcych'', 1911). He joined the
Society of Friends of Science in Wilno Society of Friends of Science in Wilno ( pl, Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk w Wilnie) was a Polish scientific society which functioned in Wilno (since 1945 Vilnius) from 1906 to 1939. The Society was involved with the reopening of the Stefan Bato ...
and accompanied Ludwik Krzywicki on his archaeological work in Samogitia.


First World War

At the beginning of the war, Römer maintained contacts with independence and socialist circles in Warsaw, and distributed leaflets in Lithuania. He worked on the editorial board of the re-established "Przegląd Wileński". In March 1915, he took the Lithuanian politicians Mykolas Sleževičius and
Jurgis Šaulys Jurgis Šaulys (; 1879–1948) was a Lithuanian economist, diplomat, and politician, and one of the twenty signatories to the 1918 Act of Independence of Lithuania. Šaulys attended secondary school in Palanga and attended the Kaunas Theologi ...
to Warsaw for a meeting with
Stanisław Patek Stanisław Jan Patek (; 1 May 1866 – 25 August 1944), Polish lawyer, freemason and diplomat, served as Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1919 to 1920. The lawyer Born in Rusinów, he was an activist of the Polish Socialist Party who ...
. He established contacts with the Legions' movement. In May 1915, he broke through the frontline to Kraków. In August, he submitted an extensive memorandum to the Supreme National Committee entitled ''Lithuania at War'' (''Litwa wobec wojny''). In November, he himself joined the legions, but was hospitalised due to the harsh living conditions at the front. He was then sent to the editorial office of "Wiadomości Polskie". During the
oath crisis The Oath crisis ( pl, Kryzys przysięgowy) was a World War I political conflict between the Imperial German Army command and the Józef Piłsudski-led Polish Legions. Initially supporting the Central Powers against Imperial Russia, Piłsudski ...
he withdrew from Legions and became the district judge in Łomża in 1917.


Interwar period

In March 1919 he came to Warsaw at Józef Piłsudski request. Piłsudski sent him to Kaunas to head a government composed of Poles and Lithuanians. Romer arrived in Kaunas on 15 April, but his plans were rejected by Lithuanian politicians. He then returned to Vilnius, which was then in Polish hands, but did not take up any public office. In September 1920, after the Lithuanian army had taken over Vilnius, he became the head of "Gazeta Krajowa". The paper supported Lithuanian statehood, respecting the Polish language and culture. After the capture of Vilnius by General Lucjan Żeligowski, he went to Kaunas and in a letter to Józef Piłsudski protested against the violation of Lithuania's rights to its capital. He chose instead to move to
Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...
, which had become the temporary capital of the recently re-established independent Republic of Lithuania. He was a notable figure in the
interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...
Lithuania, and was a member of the
Lithuanian Supreme Tribunal The Supreme Tribunal of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Vyriausiasis Tribunolas) was the highest court in interwar Lithuania. Officially established in December 1918, the court held its first proceedings in August 1919. Initially, it served as an appeals ...
(1921–1928) and the
State Council of Lithuania The State Council of Lithuania ( lt, Valstybės Taryba) was a legislative institution in interwar Lithuania. It was an advisory institution that codified existing and proposed new laws. It was established by the constitution adopted on 15 May 1928 ...
(1928–1931). He was a professor at the
University of Lithuania Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) ( lt, Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas (VDU)) is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. The university was founded in 1922 during the interwar period as an alternate national university. Initially it was known ...
/ Vytautas Magnus University (1922–1940), Vilnius University (1940–1945), and the rector of the University of Lithuania for three terms (1927–1928, 1933–36 and 1936–1939). As an international lawyer, in 1932 he represented Lithuania at the Permanent Court of International Justice regarding the
Klaipėda Directorate Klaipėda (; ; german: Memel; pl, Kłajpeda; russian: Клайпеда; sgs, Klaipieda) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. The capital of the eponymous county, it is the third largest city and the only major seaport in Lithuania ...
. The court found in Lithuania's favor that Otto Böttcher had violated the Statute of the Klaipėda Region. He published a work on this matter entitled: ''Le système juridique des garanties de la souveraineté de la Lithuanie sur le territoire de Memel'' (1936). Römer wrote important works on Lithuanian history and on law, such as the 1908 book ''Litwa. Studyum o odrodzeniu narodu litewskiego'' and the 1928 book ''Die Verfassungsreform Litauens im Jahre 1928''. He is considered to be one of the most prominent Lithuanian jurists, the
progenitor In genealogy, the progenitor (rarer: primogenitor; german: Stammvater or ''Ahnherr'') is the – sometimes legendary – founder of a family, line of descent, clan or tribe, noble house, or ethnic group.. Ebenda''Ahnherr:''"Stammvater eines G ...
, first lector and one of the most prominent authors of interwar Lithuanian constitutional law. While most of his writings on Lithuanian law were written in
Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...
and his signature on Lithuanian documents and letters was ''Mykolas Römeris'', (sometimes also credited as ''Mykolas Rėmeris'' or ''Mykolas Riomeris''), he continued to write his diary in
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
and use the German form of his name (''Michael von Römer'') for his law writings in German. He did not break his ties with Polishness, and still was publishing in Polish, for example ''Litwy z Kowna'' ("Letters from Kaunas"). He willingly visited Poland and hosted Polish personalities visiting Lithuania.


Second World War

In February 1940 he moved to Vilnius, where the Lithuanian University, of which he was rector, had been transferred. He organised meetings of Lithuanian and Polish activists in an attempt to find common ground. He remained in this position after the occupation of Lithuania by the USSR. After the university was closed down by the Germans, he took part in secret teaching. He maintained contacts with the Polish underground movement. He returned to the university after the Red Army entered Vilnius. He died on 22 February 1945. He was buried on Rasos Cemetery.


Commemoration

The Law University of Lithuania in Vilnius was renamed to the
Mykolas Romeris University Mykolas Romeris University ( lt, Mykolo Romerio universitetas) is an international university located with campuses in Vilnius and Kaunas, Lithuania. MRU cooperates closely with over 350 universities, public and private institutions, takes part ...
in 2004.


Publications

* Michał Römer, ''Stosunki etnograficzno-kulturalne na Litwie'', Kraków 1906. * Michał Römer, ''Litwa. Studyum o odrodzeniu narodu litewskiego'', Lwów 1908. * Michał Römer, ''Litwini w Prusiech Książęcych'', Kraków 1911. * Michał Römer, ''Dzień 6 sierpnia 1914 roku'', Warszawa 1916. * Michał Römer, ''Litewskie stronnictwa polityczne'', Wilno 1921. * Mykolas Römeris, ''Le système juridique des garanties de la souveraineté de la Lithuanie sur le territoire de Memel'', Paris 1930. * Michael von Römer, ''Die Verfassungsreform Litauens vom Jahre 1928'', München 1930. * Mykolas Römeris, ''Valstybė ir jos konstitucinė teisė'', Kaunas 1934–1939. * Mykolas Römeris, ''Lietuvos konstitucinės teisės paskaitos'' (''Cours de droit constitutionnel lithuanien''), Kaunas 1937. * Michał Römer, ''Zasługi Ludwika Krzywickiego wobec nauki litewskiej'', Warszawa 1938. * Michał Römer, ''Organizacja władzy politycznej w rozwoju konstytucyjnym Republiki Litewskiej'', Warszawa 1939. * Mykolas Römeris. ''Lietuva. Studija apie lietuvių tautos atgimimą''. * Mykolas Römeris. ''Konstitucinės ir teismo teisės pasieniuose''.


References


Bibliography

*
Academical biography
Retrieved 2007-10-02 * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Romer, Michal 1880 births 1945 deaths People from Rokiškis District Municipality People from Novoalexandrovsky Uyezd Römer family Lithuanian people of Baltic German descent Lithuanian people of Polish descent Krajowcy Lithuanian scholars of constitutional law Rectors of Vytautas Magnus University Academic staff of Vilnius University Polish legionnaires (World War I) Burials at Rasos Cemetery be:Міхал Ромер