Basil Markesinis


Sir Basil Markesinis, KC, FBA was a Greek-British barrister and legal scholar, who was Jamail Regents Professor at the University of Texas, Austin. He was previously Professor of Common and Civil Law at University College London.

Early life and education

Basil Markesinis was born in Athens, Kingdom of Greece on 10 July 1944. He was the son of Greek politician Spyros Markezinis. He held dual British and Greek citizenship. He started his education at the law school of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens from where he graduated with a first class degree followed by a Doctor Iuris, Athens - "Summa Cum Laude". Sir Basil then went to read law at the University of Cambridge where he earned MA and PhD in 1970. In 1972, he was called to the bar at Gray's Inn, of which he was a Bencher. He took silk, thus becoming a senior barrister, in 2001. Sir Basil was awarded an honorary degree from Cambridge, Gent, Oxford, Paris I, Munich and Athens.

Career

Markesinis held office as Assistant Professor of Roman and Byzantine Law at the University of Athens, Fellow and Director of Studies in Law at Trinity College, Cambridge, Lecturer in the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, Denning Professor of Comparative Law at Queen Mary and Westfield College, Professor of European Private Law at University College London, Clifford Chance Professor of European Law and Director of the Institute of European and Comparative Law, and Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford and Clifford Chance Professor of Comparative Law and Fellow of Brasenose College.
Other positions included Director and Founder of the Institute of Anglo-American Law, Leiden, member of the Council of Management of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, member of the Board of Management of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, member of the Board of Editors of European Review of Private Law, Revue de droit internationale et de droit comparé, and The Netherlands Journal of International Law.
Markesinis held visiting professorships at Cornell Law School, University of Paris I, Panthéon-Assas University, the University of Michigan Law School, the University of Ghent, and the University of Siena.
Markesinis authored or co-authored thirty books and more than one hundred and twenty articles in languages including English, French, German, and Greek.

Personal life and death

Markesinis was married to Eugenie Trypanis and together they had two children. He died from pneumonia arising from complications of Parkinsonism on 23 April 2023, at the age of 78.

Honours

  • Bundesverdienstkreuz, Erste Klass, 1991, conferred by the President of the Federal Republic of Germany for the "exceptional merits" of his work on German law and his successful efforts to strengthen Anglo-German relations
  • Officier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques, 1992, awarded by the Prime Minister of France "pour services rendus depuis de nombreuses années à la culture française"
  • Chevalier dans l'Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur, 1995, awarded by President François Mitterrand
  • Cavaliere-Ufficiale dell' Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, 1995, awarded by President Scalfaro "for services to European Integration"
  • Grosse Verdienstkreuz, 1999, conferred by the President of Germany for "outstanding contribution to British-German relations and the promotion of German law"
  • Grande Ufficiale dell' Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, 1999, conferred by President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
  • Commander of the Order of Honour, 2000, awarded by President Constantine Stephanopoulos for services to the study of Foreign and Comparative law and European legal integration
  • Commandeur dans l'Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur, 2000, awarded by President Jacques Chirac "for exceptional services to France, Europe and the science of Comparative Law"
  • Grand Officier dans l'Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur, 2003, awarded by President Jacques Chirac "pour couronner un des plus grands spécialistes du droit comparé en Europe"
  • Cavaliere di Gran Croce dell' Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, 2002, awarded by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi for "services to Comparative Law, Italian Law and European Integration"
  • Knight Commander of the Order of Merit, 2003, awarded by President Johannes Rau for "exceptional services rendered to German-British relations"
  • Knight Bachelor

    Other

  • Fellow, British Academy
  • Fellow, Academy of Athens
  • Fellow, Institut de France
  • Fellow, Royal Belgian Academy
  • Foreign Member, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • Member, American Law Institute
  • Member, Commercial Bar Association
  • Member, London Common Law and Commercial Bar Association

    Articles

  • “Weltliteratur and Global Law Lessons from Goethe”, Liber Amicorum for Lord Bingham, Senior Law Lord, Oxford University Press.
  • « La politisation de la pensée juridique américaine », Mélanges Geneviève Viney, Dalloz.
  • "Human and Divine Justice" 6th Denning Lecture delivered at Lincoln’s Inn and to appear in the forthcoming Liber Amicorum Guido Alpa, Giuffré, Milano,.
  • “Political thinking, Human Rights law, and Legal Transplants”, Inaugural address at the University of Athens on the occasion of the award of a Doctorate Honoris Causa by the faculty of Law..
  • “Understanding American Law by Looking at it through Foreign Eyes. Towards a Wider Theory for the Study and Use of Foreign Law”, The Irvine Lecture, Cornell, 22 August 2006 in 81 No 1 Tulane Law Review .
  • “Judicial Mentality: Mental Disposition or Outlook as a Factor Impeding Recourse to Foreign Law”, Centenary Lecture of the Society of Comparative Legislation, 80 Tulane Law Review, Issue 4 .
  • 41. “Le droit étranger devant le juge américain et le juge français”. Lecture at the Institut de France delivered on 13 March 2006. Institute webpage of that date and.41 “National Self- Sufficiency or Intellectual Arrogance? The Current Attitude of American Courts Towards Foreign Law”, The Ninth Peter Taylor Memorial Lecture, Lincoln’s Inn, 2006, 65 No 2, Cambridge Law Journal pp. 301–329.
  • "Die Kunst und die Wissenschaft deutsches Kultur im Ausland zu fördern", Festschrift für Claus-Wilhelm Canaris zum 70. Geburstag, C.H. Beck Verlag
  • “Concerns and Ideas about our Developing Law of Privacy ” ; vol: LII The American Journal of Comparative Law, pp. 133– 208.
  • “Case law and Comparative Law: Any Wider Lessons to be Learnt?”, European Review of Private Law.
  • “Scholarship, Reputation of Scholarship, and Legacy: Some Provocative Reflections from a Comparatist’s Point of View.” The John Maurice Kelly Memorial Lecture, The Irish Jurist, 2003
  • “Caroline of Monaco, Zeta Jones, Naomi Campbell: the private lives of public figures and the Press” Lecture delivered at the Academy of Athens.
  • “Liability of Experts in German and American Law: An Exercise in Comparative Methodology”, The American Journal of Comparative Law, Autumn issue, 2003
  • “Foreign Law Inspiring National Law: Lessons from Greatorex v. Greatorex 61 Cambridge Law Journal, 2002, pp. 386–404.