Erik Jayme

Erik Jayme (8 June 1934 – 1 May 2024) was a German jurist. Until his retirement in 2002 he was professor of Private Law, Private International Law and Comparative Law at the University of Heidelberg. From 1997 to 1999 he served as president of the Institut de Droit International and served as vice president of The Hague Academy of International Law from 2004 to 2024. Jayme died on 1 May 2024, at the age of 89.

Academic life
Jayme was born in 1934 in Montreal. In 1973/1974, he was a full professor at the University of Münster, afterwards at the University of Munich. From 1983 to 2002, he was a full professor of Private Law, Private International Law and Comparative Law at the University of Heidelberg.

Memberships and honours
Jayme was member of the Institut de Droit International whose president he was from 1997 to 1999. From 2004 till his death he was vice president of the Curatorium of The Hague Academy of International Law. He was honorary doctor of the universities of Ferrara (1991),  Budapest (2000),  Montpellier (2003),   Porto Alegre (UFRGS) (2003)  and Coimbra, Académicien titulaire of the Académie internationale de droit comparé (Paris). He was member of the Heidelberg Academy for Sciences and Humanities (1989), Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti (2004) and foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (2005). In 2008 he received the Order of the Southern Cross.