Potier, Robert Joseph

He came from an old bourgeois family. At the age of eight, he lost his father, was brought up by his uncle, a canon of Orleans Cathedral . He graduated from Jesuit College and the Faculty of Law of the University of Orleans : in 1718 he received a law degree, at first became a canon, but then decided to devote his life to law.

Traités des contrats aléatoires , 1767

In 1720 he was appointed adviser to President Orleans (his father and grandfather had previously held the same position) and served in this position until the end of his life. In 1747 he was elected to the Orleans Magistrate and was also a member of it until the end of his life. In private life was known for strict morals and modesty .

He wrote scientific works from his youth, studied both the history of Roman law and the law of modern foreign countries, including the Netherlands , German and Italian states, as well as civil law . He wrote part of his works in Latin . His “Traité sur les obligations” (1760), which had a great influence on the composition of all the provisions of Code civil ( Napoleon’s Civil Code ) under the law of obligations, grew out of his careful study of Roman law in his sources and in connection with the norms of French customary law and justice ”(natural law).

Other works of Potier:

• “Pandectae lustinianeae in unum ordinem digestae” (Paris, 1748-1752; French translation - 1817-1827; exposition of the sources of Justinian law in the modern system)
• Coutume d'Orléans (1760),
• “Traité du contrat de change” (Paris, 1763)
• "Traités sur différentes matières de droit civil" (Paris, 1773)
• "Traité de la procédure civile et criminelle" (Paris, 1778)
• Traité du domaine de propriété
• “Traité de la communauté” (Paris, 1819).

• Potier, Robert-Joseph // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Article in the Catholic Encyclopedia
• An article in La Grande Encyclopédie (fr.)