Dieter Medicus


Dieter Medicus was a German jurist. Until his retirement in 1994 he was professor of Private Law and history of Ancient law at the University of Munich.

Life

Medicus was born 1929 in Berlin. His father was a chemist. He studied law at the Humboldt University Berlin, University of Würzburg and University of Münster. In 1954 he passed the first state exam ' and in 1957 the second state exam ) in Münster. He was a doctoral student of Max Kaser and habilitated in 1962 . In 1962 he was full professor at the University of Kiel, afterwards at the University of Tübingen and Regensburg. From 1978 to 1994 was full professor of Private Law and history of Ancient law at the University of Munich.
Medicus is author of the standard text book on German private Law . Bürgerliches Recht was translated into Japanese ' and hailed as “beacon of scholarly writing”. It is “well-known to every German lawyer” and even cited by courts. His book on the General Part of the German Civil Code ' was translated into Chinese . His text books on the law of obligations were translated into Spanish . He was one the advisors of the German Government during the reform of the law of obligations ' in 2002.

Memberships and honours

Medicus was elected member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities in 1980. He was awarded a doctorate honoris causa by the University of Regensburg in 1999 and by the University of Halle-Wittenberg in 2008.

Works