Friedrich Fromhold Martens, or Friedrich Fromhold von Martens[1], also known as Fyodor Fyodorovich Martens (Фёдор Фёдорович Мартенс) in Russian and Frederic Frommhold (de) Martens in French
(27 August [O.S. 15
August] 1845 — 20 June [O.S. 7 June] 1909) was a Russian diplomat and jurist who made important contributions to the science of
international law. He represented Russia at the Hague Peace Conference, (where he drafted the Martens
Clause), and helped to settle the first cases of international arbitration, notably
the dispute between France and Great Britain over
Newfoundland. As a scholar, he is probably best remembered today for having edited
15 volumes of Russian international treaties (1874-1909).
Biography
Friedrich Martens (around 1878)
Born to ethnic Estonian[2] parents at Pärnu (Pernau) in Estonia,
then part of the Russian Empire, Martens was later raised and educated as a German-speaker. He lost both parents at the age of nine and was sent to a Lutheran orphanage in St. Petersburg, where he successfully
completed the full course of studies at a German high school and in 1863 entered the law faculty of
St. Petersburg University. In 1868, he
started his service at the Russian ministry of foreign affairs. In 1871, he became a lecturer in international law in the university of St.
Petersburg, and in 1872 professor of public law in the Imperial School of Law and the
Imperial Alexander Lyceum. In 1874, he was selected
special legal assistant to Prince Gorchakov, then imperial
chancellor.
His book on The Right of Private Property in War had appeared in 1869, and had been
followed in 1873 by that upon The Office of Consul and Consular Jurisdiction in the East, which had been translated into German and republished at Berlin. These were the first of a long series of studies which won for their author a worldwide reputation, and
raised the character of the Russian school of international jurisprudence in all civilised
countries.
First amongst them must be placed the great Recueil des traités et conventions conclus par la Russie avec les puissances
etrangeres (13 volumes, 1874-1902). This collection, published in Russian and French in
parallel columns, contains not only the texts of the treaties but valuable introductions dealing with the diplomatic conditions
of which the treaties were the outcome. These introductions are based largely on unpublished documents from the Russian
archives.
Of Martens’ original works his International Law of Civilised Nations is perhaps the best known; it was written in
Russian, a German edition appearing in 1884-1885, and a French
edition in 1887-1888. It displays much judgment and acumen, though
some of the doctrines which it defends by no means command universal assent. More openly biased
in character are such treatises as:
In the delicate questions raised in some of these works Martens stated his case with learning and ability, even when it was
obvious that he was arguing as a special pleader. Martens was repeatedly chosen to act in international arbitrations. Among the
controversies which he helped to mediate were those between Mexico and the United States – the first case determined by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague – and the
dispute between Great Britain and France over Newfoundland in 1891.
He played an important part in the negotiations between his own country and Japan, which led to
the peace of Portsmouth (August 1905) and prepared the way for the Russo-Japanese
convention. He was employed in laying the foundations for the Hague Conferences. He was
one of the Russian plenipotentiaries at the first conference and president of the fourth
committee – that on maritime law – at the second conference. His visits to the chief
capitals of Europe in the early part of 1907 were an important preliminary in the preparation of
the programme. He was judge of the Russian supreme prize court established to determine
cases arising during the war with Japan.
He received honorary degrees from the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Yale; he was also one of the runner-up
nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1902. In April 1907, he addressed a remarkable
letter to The Times on the position of the second Duma,
in which he argued that the best remedy for the ills of Russia would be the dissolution of that assembly and the election of
another on a narrower franchise. He died suddenly in June 1909.
Ennoblement
The date and circumstances of his ennoblement are not clear. While it is undisputed that he called himself and was referred to
as von or de Martens in publications since the early 1870s, this title might have
been bestowed upon him either with one of the more distinguished Russian Orders, or with the title of a Privy Councillor, or simply with his appointment as a full professor. He was never registered in the
matricles of the knightage of Livonia (Livländische Ritterschaft) or one of the other
three Baltic knightages (that is of Estonia, Courland and Ösel/Saaremaa). His social advancement was the more remarkable, as it was exclusively based on his professional
merits.
Popular culture
References
Further reading
- Biographies
- Vladimir Pustogarov. (English version 2000) "Our Martens: F.F. Martens, International Lawyer and Architect of Peace".
The original,"С пальмовой ветвью мира" was published in 1993.
- Articles
- Other
Footnotes
- ^ Friedrich Martens should not be confused with Georg Friedrich von Martens (1756–1821) who was incidentally also an international lawyer,
born in Hamburg. He was professor of international law at the University of Göttingen (1783–89), a state councilor of Westphalia (1808–13), and the representative of the king of Hanover in the
diet of Frankfurt (1816–21).
- ^ Postimees daily, page 3 of the 8 June
1909 (O.S.) issue, image available in an online database.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
