Asser, Tobias Michael Carel (1838-1913), a Dutch jurist and professor of law, specialized in international law. In 1911, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for peace for organizing conferences on international law and for helping to form the Permanent Court of Arbitration–one of the first attempts to set up an international court of justice. The aim of the court is to provide peaceful means of settling international legal disputes (see International Court of Justice ).
In 1869, Asser helped to found a journal, the Revue de droit international et de legislation comparee (Review of International Law and of Comparative Legislation). Asser took part in a conference in Ghent, Belgium, which established the Institute of International Law. He later became head of the institute.
In the early 1890’s, Asser called upon the Dutch government to establish a series of conferences between European powers, with the aim of codifying international private law. Asser presided over many of these conferences. The conferences of 1893 and 1894 drew up a standard international procedure for conducting civil trials. The 1900 and 1904 conferences also established several treaties about questions of international family law.
Asser’s political career included being adviser to the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a member of the Council of State–the most important administrative body in the government, delegate to the Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907, and minister without portfolio from 1904 until his death on July 29, 1913. From 1875 to 1913, almost every treaty concluded by the Dutch government was achieved with Asser’s help.
Asser was born in Amsterdam on April 28, 1838. From 1862 until 1893, he taught commercial and private international law at the University of Amsterdam.
