Emil Beck (25 November 1888 – 31 January 1973) was a Swiss lawyer, diplomat and professor. He was

chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

in the Liechtenstein embassy in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

from 1919 to 1933.

Early life

Beck was born on 25 November 1888 in

Flims Flims () is a municipality in the Imboden Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The town of Flims is dominated by the Flimserstein which one can see from almost anywhere in the area. Flims consists of the village of Flims (called Flims D ...

as the son of wood merchant Johann Beck and his mother Dorathe Held as one of nine children. He grew up in

Tamins Tamins () is a village and a municipality in the Imboden Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. History Tamins is first mentioned in 1224 as ''Tuminne''. In 1225 it was mentioned as ''Tvminnis'' and in 1399 as ''Tumins''. Geography Tami ...

and attended school in

Chur '' Chur (locally) or ; ; ; ; ; ; or ; , and . is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, town of the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of the Grisons and lies in the Alpine Rhine, Grisonian Rhine Valley, where ...

. He studied law in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

where he received a diploma in 1916. From 1918 he was a private lecturer at the University of Bern. He worked as an assistant to

Eugen Huber Eugen Huber (July 31, 1849 – April 23, 1923) was a Swiss jurist and the creator of the Zivilgesetzbuch, Swiss Civil code of 1907. Biography Huber was born in Swiss Canton of Zürich on July 31, 1849. His father was a physician. At the Univer ...

in Bern.

Career

From 1919 to 1933 Beck was the

in the Liechtenstein embassy in

. He took place in the negotiations of various state treaties between Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Together with

Giuseppe Motta Giuseppe Motta (29 December 1871 – 23 January 1940) was a Swiss politician. He served as President of the Swiss Confederation 5 times. He was a member of the Swiss Federal Council (1911–1940) and President of the League of Nations (1924–1 ...

he signed a poastal agreement in 1920 and on 29 March 1923 the agreement that finalized the establishment of a

customs union A customs union is generally defined as a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff.GATTArticle 24 s. 8 (a) Customs unions are established through trade pacts where the participant countries set u ...

between the two countries, which came into effect in 1924. Zollanschlussvertrag

He represented Liechtenstein during negotiations for the country's association with the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

in November 1920. He was also President of the Supreme Court in Liechtenstein from 1922 to 1930 and of the State Court from 1925 to 1930. Beck assisted the Liechtenstein government as an expert lawyer and, together with

Wilhelm Beck Wilhelm Beck (, ; 26 March 1885 – 20 January 1936) was a lawyer and politician from Liechtenstein who was the founder of the Christian-Social People's Party and later served as the President of the Landtag of Liechtenstein from 1922 to 1927 ...

(no relation), wrote the Liechtenstein Personal and Company law, which came into force in 1926. Due to Beck's association with the Christian-Social People's Party he was opposed by the

Progressive Citizens' Party The Progressive Citizens' Party in Liechtenstein (, FBP) is a Conservatism, conservative List of political parties in Liechtenstein, political party in Liechtenstein. The FBP is one of the two major party, major List of political parties in Liech ...

and in 1933 they closed the Liechtenstein embassy in Bern. From 1933 he was an associate professor of Swiss and international private law at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (, , ) is a public university, public research university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a br ...

, and at the same time adjunct in the justice department of the Swiss federal administration.

Personal life

Beck married Nelly Ackermann (24 October 1905 – 11 September 1971) on 7 December 1935 and they had two children together. Beck died on 31 January 1973 in Bern, aged 84 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Emil 1888 births 1973 deaths University of Zurich alumni University of Bern alumni 20th-century Swiss lawyers Liechtenstein lawyers 20th-century lawyers Liechtenstein diplomats