Michał Pius Römer | |
|---|---|
Mykolas Römeris | |
 Römeris in 1936 | |
| 6thRector ofVytautas Magnus University | |
| In office May 28, 1933 – October 12, 1939 | |
| Preceded by | Pranas Jodelė |
| Succeeded by | Stasys Šalkauskis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1880-05-07)7 May 1880 |
| Died | 22 February 1945(1945-02-22) (aged 64) |
| Nationality | Polish-Lithuanian |
| Spouses | |
| Children |
|
| Parents |
|
| Occupation | lawyer professor statesman |
| Signature |  |
Michał Pius Römer (Lithuanian:Mykolas Römeris; 28 May 1880 – 22 February 1945) was aPolish-Lithuanianlawyer, scientist and politician.
Römer was born in Lithuania into a Polish noble family ofBaltic-German (Livonian) origin.[1] He was one ofszlachta members loyal to the heritage of theGrand Duchy of Lithuania, referred to asKrajowcy. His father was Michał Kazimierz Römer and mother was Konstancja Tukałło.[2]
He attended theImperial School of Jurisprudence in Saint Petersburg (1893–1901) and later studied history in theJagiellonian University inKraków (1901–1902), after that he moved to Paris to study inÉcole des sciences politiques (1902–1905). In Paris, he belonged to the organisation "Spójnia", where he headed the group "Lithuania", and was closely related to theForeign Union of Polish Socialists [pl].[3] He gave the lecture on cultural-ethnographic situation in Lithuania inCafé Voltaire,[3] together with another Lithuanian activist,Tadas Ivanauskas[citation needed]. It was later published inKraków by "Krytyka" under a title:Stosunki etnograficzno-kulturalne na Litwie.[3]
In 1905, he returned to Lithuania, where he began to work for the restoration of Lithuanian statehood, not dominated by any nationalism. As he put it, he tried persuading theLithuanian Poles to have "a common national citizenship (Polish:obywatelstwo krajowe) without renouncing cultural and national distinctions".[3] To this end, he andZenon Pietkiewicz [pl] founded the "Gazeta Wileńska", which was published from 15 February 1906. The radical paper was soon closed, on 7 July that year, although it already had 2,000 subscribers. Romer had to flee to Kraków, for fear of being arrested.[3]
In 1908 he wroteLithuania: Study of national revival (Litwa: studium odrodzenia narodowego). In his work he justified the Lithuanians' rights to their own statehood. He refuted accusations that Lithuanian activists were Russian agents. He also defended the right of Lithuanian Poles to preserve their own identity in the future Lithuanian state.[3]
Later that year he came back to Vilnius, when he continued his publicist work. He wrote works on Poles in Lithuania and Ruthenia and on Lithuanians in theDuchy of Prussia (Litwini w Prusach Książęcych, 1911). He joined theSociety of Friends of Science in Wilno and accompaniedLudwik Krzywicki on his archaeological work inSamogitia.[3]
At the outbreak ofWorld War I, Römer maintained contacts with independence and socialist circles in Warsaw, and distributed leaflets in Lithuania. He worked on the editorial board of the re-established "Przegląd Wileński". Römer took an oath as a lawyer in early 1915.
In March 1915, he took the Lithuanian politiciansMykolas Sleževičius andJurgis Šaulys to Warsaw for a meeting withStanisław Patek.[3] Römer left Vilnius on May 27, 1915 and went viaOdesa toRomania and then toGalicia. At the delegation of theSupreme National Committee (NKN), he was accepted into thePolish Legions and sent to the Press Office of the Military Department of the NKN inPiotrków. In August, he submitted an extensive memorandum to the Supreme National Committee entitledLithuania at War (Litwa wobec wojny).[3] On August 28, 1915, he left Piotrków, wanting to take part in the armed struggle. On September 14, 1915, after a personal conversation withJózef Piłsudski inKovel, he was assigned to the1st Legions Infantry Regiment and, under the pseudonymMateusz Rzymski, took part in the Volhynia campaign as a private. He soon fell ill and was hospitalized for a longer period - inRzeszów, thenKraków, where he stayed until February 1916.
After a period of service in the Military Department of the NKN, in September 1916 he returned to the 1st Legions Infantry Regiment's 1st Battalion's 1st Company to the front to Grywiatka, then with the regiment toBaranavichy andŁomża. During theOath crisis in July 1917, he refused to take the oath of allegiance to theGerman Emperor and on July 18, 1917, he was interned in the camp inSzczypiorno. In August 1917, thanks to the efforts of his Warsawian friends, he was released from the camp and was nominated as ajustice of the peace inKolno in theKingdom of Poland, and after a year he was transferred to the position of district judge inŁomża.
In March 1919 he came to Warsaw at the request of Józef Piłsudski. Piłsudski sent him to Kaunas to head a government composed of Poles and Lithuanians. Romer arrived in Kaunas on 15 April, but his plans were rejected by Lithuanian politicians. He then returned to Vilnius, which was then in Polish hands, but did not take up any public office. In September 1920, after the Lithuanian army had retaken Vilnius, he became the head of "Gazeta Krajowa". The paper supported Lithuanian statehood, respecting the Polish language and culture.[4] After the capture of Vilnius by GeneralLucjan Żeligowski, he went to Kaunas and in a letter to Józef Piłsudski protested against the violation of Lithuania's rights to its capital. He chose instead to move toKaunas, which had become thetemporary capital of the recently re-established independentRepublic of Lithuania.[5]
He was a notable figure in theinterwar Lithuania, and was a member of theSupreme Tribunal of Lithuania (1921–1928) and theState Council of Lithuania (1928–1931). He was a professor at theUniversity of Lithuania/Vytautas Magnus University (1922–1940),Vilnius University (1940–1945), and the rector of the University of Lithuania for three terms (1927–1928, 1933–36 and 1936–1939).[6] As an international lawyer, in 1932 he represented Lithuania at thePermanent Court of International Justice regarding theKlaipėda Directorate. The court found in Lithuania's favor thatOtto Böttcher had violated theKlaipėda Convention. He published a work on this matter entitled:Le système juridique des garanties de la souveraineté de la Lithuanie sur le territoire de Memel (1936).[5]
Römer wrote important works on Lithuanian history and on law, such as the 1908 bookLitwa. Studyum o odrodzeniu narodu litewskiego and the 1928 bookDie Verfassungsreform Litauens im Jahre 1928. He is considered to be one of the most prominent Lithuanian jurists, theprogenitor, first lector and one of the most prominent authors of interwar Lithuanianconstitutional law. While most of his writings on Lithuanian law were written inLithuanian and his signature on Lithuanian documents and letters wasMykolas Römeris, (sometimes also credited asMykolas Rėmeris orMykolas Riomeris), he continued to write his diary inPolish and use the German form of his name (Michael von Römer) for his law writings in German. He did not break his ties with Polishness, and still was publishing in Polish, for exampleListy z Kowna ("Letters from Kaunas").[5] He willingly visited Poland and hosted Polish personalities visiting Lithuania.
In February 1940 he moved to Vilnius, where the Lithuanian University, of which he was rector, had been transferred. He organised meetings of Lithuanian and Polish activists in an attempt to find common ground.[5] He remained in this position after the Soviet occupation of Lithuania. After the university was closed down by the Germans, he took part in secret teaching. He maintained contacts with the Polish underground movement.[5] He returned to the university after theRed Army occupied Vilnius again in 1944. He died on 22 February 1945. He was buried onRasos Cemetery.[5]
The Law University of Lithuania in Vilnius was renamed to theMykolas Romeris University in 2004.
{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)