Willem Jan Mari van Eysinga (31 January 1878 – 24 January 1961) was a Dutch diplomat and jurist. He served as a judge on the

Permanent Court of International Justice The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, existed from 1922 to 1946. It was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1920 (although the idea of an international court was several cent ...

from 1931 to 1945.

Early life and education

Van Eysinga was born on 3 January 1878 in

Noordwijkerhout Noordwijkerhout () is a town and former municipality in the western part of the Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The town is currently part of the municipality of Noordwijk and lies in the bulb-growing region (the Duin- en Bollenstree ...

, now the municipality of

Noordwijk Noordwijk () is a town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water and had a population of in . On 1 January 2019, the f ...

, to a prominent political family. His father, Tjalling, was the mayor of Noordwijkerhout and his grandfather, Frans van Eysinga, was President of the Dutch Senate from 1880 to 1888. Van Eysinga received a Doctor of Law and a Doctor of Political Science from the

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

in 1900 and 1906 respectively. He married Coralie Leopoldina, baroness van Hogendorp, in 1908.

Academia and diplomacy

Van Eysinga worked in the

Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (; BZ) is the Netherlands' ministry responsible for foreign relations, foreign policy, international development, international trade, diaspora and matters dealing with the European Union, NATO and the Benelux Un ...

from 1902 to 1908, eventually rising to Director of the Legal and Political Section. He served as an assistant delegate to the 1907 Hague Convention, and in 1910 was appointed the Dutch representative on the

Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine The Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR; ; ; ) is an international organisation with five member countries, whose function is to encourage European prosperity by guaranteeing a high level of security for navigation of the Rhi ...

, a position he held until 1930. Van Eysinga was a professor of public law at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , 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, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

from 1908 to 1912, at which point he became a professor of public international law at Leiden University. He became a member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

in 1926. Van Eysinga was

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 u ...

of Leiden University between 1928 and 1929. He laid down his position as professor at Leiden in 1931. After World War I, Van Eysinga served as a member of the Dutch delegation to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, where he took part in the negotiations leading to the

Covenant of the League of Nations The Covenant of the League of Nations was the charter of the League of Nations. It was signed on 28 June 1919 as Part I of the Treaty of Versailles, and became effective together with the rest of the Treaty on 10 January 1920. Creation Early ...

and portions of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

relating to the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

. From 1920 to 1931 he was a member of the Dutch representation in the Assembly of the League of Nations. During that time van Eysinga also participated in the development of the transit organization of 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 ...

Judicial career

In 1921, van Eysinga served on an arbitral panel led by Max Huber, tasked with settling a dispute between Germany and certain Dutch banks. He was the President of the Committee of Jurists asked by the Council of the League of Nations in 1925 to provide an opinion on a dispute between Danzig and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Van Eysinga was the Dutch government's representative at the 1930 League of Nations Codification Conference, which purported to codify certain aspects of international law. During this period he was also a member of the

Permanent Court of Arbitration The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered at the Peace Palace, in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides administrative support in international ...

. In 1930, van Eysinga was elected by the Assembly and Council of the League of Nations to serve on the Permanent Court of International Justice. He started his term in 1931, serving until the dissolution of the Court in 1945. He died in

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

on 24 January 1961.

Bibliography

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References

Sources

*Hammarskjöld, Å,
Seventh Annual Report of the Permanent Court of International Justice
', A.W. Sijthoff, pp. 35–36, 1931. {{DEFAULTSORT:Eysinga, Willem van 1878 births 1961 deaths 20th-century Dutch diplomats Dutch jurists Leiden University alumni Academic staff of Leiden University Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences People from Noordwijkerhout Rectors of universities in the Netherlands Academic staff of the University of Groningen