BLUNTSCHLI

bluntschli, johann kaspar (1808-1881), swiss jurist and politician, was born at zurich on the 7th of march 1808, the son of a soap and candle manufacturer. from school he passed into the _politische institut_ (a seminary of law and political science) in his native town, and proceeding thence to the universities of berlin and bonn, took the degree of _doctor juris_ in the latter in 1829. returning to zurich in 1830, he threw himself with ardour into the political strife which was at the time unsettling all the cantons of the confederation, and in this year published _uber die verfassung der stadt zurich_ (on the constitution of the city of zurich). this was followed by _das volk und der souveran_ (1830), a work in which, while pleading for constitutional government, he showed his bitter repugnance of the growing swiss radicalism. elected in 1837 a member of the grosser rath (great council), he became the champion of the moderate conservative party. fascinated by the metaphysical views of the philosopher friedrich rohmer (1814-1856), a man who attracted little other attention, he endeavoured in _psychologische studien uber staat und kirche_ (1844) to apply them to political science generally, and in particular as a panacea for the constitutional troubles of switzerland. bluntschli, shortly before his death, remarked, "i have gained renown as a jurist, but my greatest desert is to have comprehended rohmer." this philosophical essay, however, coupled with his uncompromising attitude towards both radicalism and ultramontanism, brought him many enemies, and rendered his continuance in the council, of which he had been elected president, impossible. he resigned his seat, and on the overthrow of the sonderbund in 1847, perceiving that all hope of power for his party was lost, took leave of switzerland with the pamphlet _stimme eines schweizers uber die bundesreform_ (1847), and settled at munich, where he became professor of constitutional law in 1848. at munich he devoted himself with energy to the special work of his chair, and, resisting the temptation to identify himself with politics, published _allgemeines staatsrecht_ (1851-1852); _lehre vom modernen staat_ (1875-1876); and, in conjunction with karl ludwig theodor brater (1819-1869), _deutsches staats-worterbuch_ (ii vols., 1857-1870: abridged by edgar loening in 3 vols., 1869-1875). meanwhile he had assiduously worked at his code for the canton of zurich, _privatrechtliches gesetzbuch fur den kanton zurich_ (4 vols., 1854-1856), a work which was much praised at the time, and which, particularly the section devoted to contracts, served as a model for codes both in switzerland and other countries. in 1861 bluntschli received a call to heidelberg as professor of constitutional law (staatsrecht), where he again entered the political arena, endeavouring in his _geschichte des allgemeinen staatsrechts und der politik_ (1864) "to stimulate," as he said, "the political consciousness of the german people, to cleanse it of prejudices and to further it intellectually." in his new home, baden, he devoted his energies and political influence, during the austro-prussian war of 1866, towards keeping the country neutral. from this time bluntschli became active in the field of international law, and his fame as a jurist belongs rather to this province than to that of constitutional law. his _das moderne kriegsrecht_ (1866); _das moderns volkerrecht_ (1868), and _das beuterecht im krieg_ (1878) are likely to remain invaluable text-books in this branch of the science of jurisprudence. he also wrote a pamphlet on the "alabama" case. bluntschli was one of the founders, at ghent in 1873, of the institute of international law, and was the representative of the german emperor at the conference on the international laws of war at brussels. during the latter years of his life he took a lively interest in the _protestantenverein_, a society formed to combat reactionary and ultramontane views of theology. he died suddenly at karlsruhe on the 21st of october 1881. his library was acquired by johns hopkins university at baltimore, u.s.a. among his works, other than those before mentioned, may be cited _deutsches privatrecht_ (1853-1854); _deutsche staatslehre fur gebildete_ (1874); and _deutsche staatslehre und die heutige staatenwelt_ (1880). for notices of bluntschli's life and works see his interesting autobiography, _denkwurdiges aus meinem leben_ (1884); von holtzendorff, _bluntschli und seine verdienste um die staatswissenschaften_ (1882); brockhaus, _konversations-lexicon_ (1901); and a biography by meyer von kronau, in _allgemeine deutsche biographie_.