His Former Students Mourn Jürgen Basedow (1949–2023)
Jürgen Basedow served as director of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg from 1997 to 2017.
As a leading scholar of comparative law, conflict of laws, and European private and commercial law, Jürgen Basedow always managed to give his work and discussions an international—and especially European—perspective, without neglecting the practical and political implications. I was inspired early on by Jürgen Basedow’s writings, which were characterized by a clear style and focus, before I had the opportunity to meet him in person a few days before beginning my LL.M. studies in the U.S. in 2003. He spontaneously offered me a postdoctoral position, and so I did indeed join the MPI in Hamburg in 2004, where I worked as a research associate in European private law in his research group until 2013. In 2012, under his supervision, I completed my habilitation at the University of Hamburg with the habilitation thesis “Europäische Gerichtsbarkeit auf dem Gebiet des Zivilrechts” (European Jurisdiction in the Field of Civil Law). I am also grateful that he delivered the laudatory address on the occasion of my receiving the Kurt Hartwig Siemers Prize from the Hamburg Scientific Foundation in 2012/2013. Even after his term as director ended, Jürgen Basedow remained actively involved in many ways, as evidenced by his books The Law of the Open Society (based on his “General Course” at the Hague Academy of International Law) and EU Private Law.
His former German students, who have gone on to pursue academic careers, published an advertisement in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on April 15, 2023, to express their deep affection and profound gratitude toward Jürgen Basedow, both as a scholar and as a person. The Max Planck Society paid tribute to him in the same Saturday edition of the FAZ. Both obituaries are reproduced here.
Jürgen Basedow had a lasting influence on scholars from around the world. This appreciation is evident in the messages of condolence from all over the world in the MPI’s online book of condolences. There, they aptly speak of his “genuine internationalism, his wealth of ideas,” his “empathy,” his foresight, his ability to inspire others, and his “often humorous brilliance.” Jürgen Basedow was also distinguished by his work ethic, reliability, approachability, and effortless poise. I will miss all of this, as well as his infectious laugh. One example is Jürgen Basedow’s lecture on “Federal Choice of Law in Europe and the United States – A Comparative Account of Interstate Conflicts” (Tul. L. Rev. 82 [2008], 2119), which is available as a video on YouTube.
