Portalis, Jean-Etienne-Marie

Before the revolution, he was a lawyer in Aix . He acted, in particular, as the defender of his wife Mirabeau , in her process with her husband. Portalis reacted very restrained to the revolution: in 1790 he refused to accept the rank of commissar of the king to transform the institutions of Provence in a new spirit, referring to the old liberties of this province, and retired to the village.

During the terror he was arrested; The 9th of Thermidor restored his freedom. As a member of the council of elders, he belonged to the party, a hostile directory . After the coup of 18 fruktidor, he was sentenced to exile in Guiana, fleeing to Switzerland and then to Germany, where he remained until 18 brumaire . Under Napoleon I, he was commissioner for the preparation of the civil code , member of the state council, senator, minister of confession.

While still a student, Portalis wrote two compositions that provoked lively talk: "Observations sur un ouvrage intitulé: Emile ou de l'Education" (Avignon, 1763) and "Des prejugés". In 1767, the composition of his Sur la distinction des deux puissances appeared; in 1770, Consultation sur la validité des mariages des protestants (Opinion on the validity of a Protestant marriage); both are directed against the domination of the Catholic Church and earned the approval of Voltaire .

In drafting the code, Portalis expressed the conservative tendencies and directed his worries to maintaining the connection of the new law with the old historical development. “Les codes se font avec le temps, mais a proprement parler, ou ne les fait pas” - this is the main point of view of Portalis, which brings him closer to representatives of the German historical school. In connection with it stands his energetic defense of Roman law , which "civilized Europe and is deservedly called the ratio scripta", as well as the provisions of French customary law, suitable to the conditions of modern life.

He tried to smooth out the contradictions between Roman and customary law by means of a “ world deal ” as soon as possible without harm to the meaning of the law. In substantiating the main principles of the civil law system, expressed by the Code of Napoleon, Portalis followed, however, the "principles of reason." He consistently divides the role of the state and the church in matters of family and marriage, recognizing the organization of marriage depending primarily on the state, which must stand above religious sects and differences. The prohibition of divorce, according to Portalis, is violence against the religious beliefs of persons who do not belong to the Catholic Church.

As Minister of Confession, Portalis contributed to concluding a concordat on a basis that he defended as early as in an essay published in 1767, which then led him to condemn the Roman throne. They are repeated in the “Treatise of Portalis”: “Sur le concordat de 1801” (Paris, 1840). In the history of the French bar, Portalis is one of the first guides of new, simpler methods of judicial eloquence, replacing the old rant. The very first speech of Portalis in the parliament aroused censure of the entire estate: the old lawyers demanded a change in the nature of his speeches. But Portalis replied: “c'est le barreau qui a besoin de changer d'allure, et non pas moi” (“this bar needs to be changed, not me”) - and after a few years his manner found general acceptance.

By the end of his life, he was completely blind. After surgery died.

In international law, the important merit of Portalis was his defense, together with Rousseau , of the idea that unarmed citizens could not be recognized by the belligerent and therefore should be spared from all violence during the war. His attitude to the prevailing ideas of the time is set forth in the work: "De l'usage et de l'abus de l'esprit philosophique durant le dix-huitième siècle", published after his death (Paris, 1820). Portalis' writings relating to the Codex of Napoleon were published by his son, entitled Discours, rapports et travaux inédits sur le Code civil (1844).

• Portalis, Jean-Etienne-Marie // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.