Andr Donner

Vocation

Dutch jurist, judge, professor in Law and the second President of the European Court of Justice. Andreas Matthias Donner was the eldest son of the Dutch Minister of Justice Jan Donner (Assen, 3 february 1891 4h30 – Den Haag, 2 february 1981, Den Haag) and Golida Wilhelmina van den Burg (27 November 1890 1 AM, Amersfoort – 6 march 1965, Den Haag). Donner stems from a prominent Dutch Reformed family of jurists. His father Jan Donner and his son Piet Hein Donner were Dutch Minister of Justice, with his son also being the current Dutch Vice President of the Council of State. André Donner's brother Jan Hein Donner was a writer and chess grandmaster. Andre would be called the Dutch Grand Master of Constitutional Law. He studied Law in at the Protestant VU in Amsterdam and graduated at age 21 cum laude. He dissertated on 24 October 1941 in Amsterdam with "De rechtskracht van administratieve beschikkingen" (The validity of administrative decisions). His father received the message whilst being kept hostage in Buchenwald. For many years he was professor in constitutional Law in Amsterdam and Groningen. He was member of many Dutch state committees, including the committee of Three on the Lockheed affair (February 9, 1976 to August 12, 1976), which resulted into a crisis of the monarchy. Between 1958 and 1964 he served as a Dutch judge and the second President of the European Court of Justice. In 1955 he became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. From 1981 to 1984 he was the chairman. He died in Amersfoort on 24 August 1992. Link to Wikipedia Link to Astrodienst discussion forum