Sir Michael Myers (7 September 1873 – 8 April 1950), also known as Mickey Myers, was the sixth Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

of New Zealand from 1929 to 1946 and served occasionally as

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of New Zealand from 1930 to 1941. He was the first Jew to hold this position. He sat on the

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in 1936. Born in

Motueka Motueka is a town in the South Island of New Zealand, close to the mouth of the Motueka River on the western shore of Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere. It is the second largest in the Tasman Region, with a population of as of The surrounding d ...

, Myers was educated at

Thorndon School Thorndon School is a New Zealand primary and intermediate school located in the suburb of Thorndon, Wellington, New Zealand. It was first established on 5 April 1852 as St Paul's School in Sydney Street. After initial success, the school's repu ...

and Wellington College, and gained his LLB from

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in 1897. Afterwards he was admitted to the

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. Myers lived in

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. He went to the 1945 San Francisco conference that produced the

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, and participated in the drafting of the constitution of the

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. He resigned on 6 September 1945, but was reappointed for one year, and then resigned on 7 August 1946. Myers died in

in 1950, aged 76. He had been made

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in 1922,

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in hono ...

in the

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, and promoted to

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in the

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Family

On 2 August 1899 he married Estelle Miriam Salom (24 February 1876 – 11 May 1960), daughter of Maurice Salom, MLC of Adelaide, South Australia. There were two sons: Maurice Salom Myers (1900–1986) and Geoffrey Alexander Myers (1908–2002). Myer's sister Phoebe Myers was a notable educationalist, who represented New Zealand at the League of Nations in 1929.

References

External links

Biography in the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, Michael 1873 births 1950 deaths Chief justices of New Zealand People educated at Wellington College (New Zealand) High Court of New Zealand judges Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council New Zealand Jews New Zealand Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George 20th-century New Zealand judges People from Motueka University of Canterbury alumni New Zealand King's Counsel New Zealand members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom