Gerhardus (Gerard) Diephuis (6 February 1817,

Farmsum Farmsum () is a village in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Groningen (province), Groningen. It is a part of the municipality of Eemsdelta. History The village was first mentioned in the 10th or 11th century as "de Fretmarashem", and means "se ...

– 4 November 1892,

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

) was a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

jurist. After studies in

, he was a judge with the

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements' ...

court in

Winschoten Winschoten (; gos, Winschoot) is a city with a population of 18,518 in the municipality of Oldambt in the northeast of the Netherlands. It is the largest city in the region of Oldambt in the province of Groningen which has 38,213 inhabitants. ...

and later with a higher court in Groningen. In 1840 he married Alagonda Geertruida Hemmes, with whom he had ten children. In 1859 he became a full professor at the

university of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen in ...

. During the period 1864–1865 he was the

rector magnificus A rector (Latin for 'ruler') is a senior official in an educational institution, and can refer to an official in either a university or a secondary school. Outside the English-speaking world the rector is often the most senior official in a un ...

of this institution. Diephuis was a leading proponent of legism and of the primacy of

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...

. Influenced by French teachings, he wrote numerous textbooks on Dutch civil law. He was also instrumental in further diminishing the influence of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

and

customary law A legal custom is the established pattern of behavior that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law". Customary law (also, consuetudina ...

in favour of codified legislation.

References

* 1817 births 1892 deaths Dutch jurists Rectors of universities in the Netherlands University of Groningen alumni University of Groningen faculty People from Delfzijl {{Netherlands-law-bio-stub