Gaston Jèze

Gaston Jèze (Toulouse, March 2, 1869 – August 5, 1953 in Deauville) was a French professor of law and president of the International Institute of Law.

He was largely responsible for promoting the establishment of finance as a separate discipline in the universities of France and contributed to the shift in thinking from the notion of power in the public sphere to the idea of public service.

He was an ardent human rights supporter. In 1933, he joined René Capitant, René Cassin, and Georges Ripert in protesting Nazi anti-semitism. He accepted an appointment as counsel for Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, who had been exiled from Ethiopia by the Italian troops of Mussolini.

His involvement with Haile Selassie caused protests at the university at which he taught. Among the protesters was the young François Mitterrand.

During World War II, he called in question the Vichy government legislation on Jewish questions.

References

*French Wikipedia article on Gaston Jèze