Arthur Eyffinger classicist historian

Biography

Arthur Eyffinger is classicist and law historian, and former staff member of the International Court of Justice (1988-2003). He has produced monographs on the history of The Hague as an international venue, and of its international courts and institutions.

 He is also the editor and translator of a range of historical, legal, poetical and political works of Hugo Grotius, and has published studies on  the prominent founder of international law. He is co-founder of the Grotiana Foundation (1978).

 In 2003 Arthur Eyffinger founded Judicap, research centre for publications and presentations on The Hague as 'Judicial Capital'. As of 2026 Judicap is continued as academic imprint of the firm "Clémart', based in Germany. 

From 2024 onwards Arthur Eyffinger produces historical novels under the pseudonym 'Guy Clémart'. 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Arthur, Clément, Guillaume, Marie Eyffinger, born 10 October 1947 at The Hague, Dutch nationality.
1967-1974
Leiden University: (Classical Philology; Latin and Greek).
1976-1981
University of Amsterdam: Post-Doctoral Humanist Studies and Neo-Latinism.
1981          
University of Amsterdam Ph.D. Classical Philology.
1970-1985
Researcher Grotius Institute Netherlands Academy Arts and Sciences.
1975-1980
Co-Editor Series Poetry Hugo Grotius.
1978-2000
Co-Founder Grotiana Foundation, The Hague; Secretary-General Board (1978-200); 
Executive Editor Journal Grotiana N.S. (1980-200).
1981-1985
Editor Series Poetry Hugo Grotius.
1984         
Semester Cambridge University.
1986-1988
Deputy-Director Peace Palace Library, The Hague.
1987-1996
Secretary-General Dutch Library Association (NVB).
1988-2003
Head Librarian International Court of Justice; Curator Nuremberg Files.
1989-1994
Chairman Netherlands 17th C. Society; Board Member Literary and Historical Societies.
2003-2025
Founder/Director Research Centre Judicap. (The Hague)
2026 >.      
Founder Firm Clémart (Germany)

MAJOR PUBLICATIONS IN 
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Publications in the domains of Classical Philology, Renaissance Studies,
Legal History and the History of The Hague as Centre of Justice and Peace.
Classicist and Legal Historian

Arthur Eyffinger


Editions of Works 
of Hugo Grotius
Dr. Eyffinger has edited a range of works of Hugo Grotius. These include political and legal tracts: De Republica Emendanda (1599), De Fide et Perfidia (1601), Mare Liberum (1609), De jure belli ac pacis (1625) along with Latin plays and (lyrical) poetry: Christus Patiens (1608), Sophompaneas (1635), Collected Poetry (1602-1603).   
Arthur Eyffinger | International Law Historian
Classicist and Legal Historian

Arthur Eyffinger


Monographs on
International Law
Dr. Eyffinger has published monographs on the Peace Palace (1988), the International Court of Justice (1996, the two Hague Peace Conferences (1999, 2007), the Carnegie Foundation (2004), Bertha von Suttner (2013), Tobias Asser (2 vols, 2019) and the Institut de droit international (2019). In 2026 he has finalized a major research project on the history of the ICJ: A World Court Trilogy.

A Fuller List of Publications

 in the domains of Classical Philology, Renaissance Studies,
Legal History and the History of The Hague as Centre of Justice and Peace.
Classical Philology / Grotian Studies

Text editions
1978
Hugo Grotius, Christus Patiens 1608 (Co-Editor), Assen.
1984
De Republica Emendanda; The Emendation of the Dutch Polity (= Grotiana N.S. Vol. 5). 
1988 The Latin Poetry of Hugo Grotius 1602-1603, Assen (Series Poetry Hugo Grotius).
1991
Denken over Oorlog en Vrede (abridged edition of Grotius’ On the Laws of War and Peace, 1625)
1992
Sophompaneas 1635; A Neo-Latin Tragedy, Assen (Series Poetry Hugo Grotius)
2009
De Vrije Zee. Critical Edition / Dutch Translation Hugo Grotius’ Mare Liberum (1609), The Hague.
2015
“On Good Faith and Bad Faith; (Grotius’ Parallelon Rerumpublicarum, Ch. VI: De Fide et Perfidia) in Grotiana N.S., Vol. 36 (2015), pp. 79-171.
2023
Een Lijdensdrama door Hugo de Groot. Poetical rendering in Dutch Christus Patiens 1608, The Hague.

Monographs
1981
Grotius Poeta; Thesis Amsterdam University.
1982
Inventory Poetry Hugo Grotius.
1983
The Grotius Collection at the Peace Palace.
1984
Inventory Manuscripts Hugo Grotius.

Papers
1983
“In Quest of Synthesis; An Attempted Synopsis of Grotius’ Works according to their Genesis and Objective”, in Grotiana N.S. 4 (1983), pp. 76-88.
1984
Hugo Grotius, Poet and Man of Letters, in: The World of Hugo Grotius (1583-1645), pp. 83-95.
1984
“Hugo de Groot’, in: Hugo Grotius 1583-1983; Maastricht Colloquium, 1984, pp. 1-11.
1984
“Exemplum Pietatis: Patriotism in Grotius’ Early Verse”, in Grotiana N.S. 8 (1987), pp. 99-119.
1987
“ ‘La Plus Belle des Histoires’: Grotius’ Drama on Joseph in Egypt”, in: Grotiana N.S. 8 (1987), pp. 80-90.
1997
“Justus Lipsius and Hugo Grotius”, in: Lipsius in Leiden, 1997, pp. 163-177.
1998
“ ‘Amoena gravitate morum spectabilis ‘. Justus Lipsius and Hugo Grotius”, in: Bull. Belgisch Hist. Inst. Rome, 68 (1998), pp. 297-327.
1999
"’ The Fourth Man"; Stoic tradition in Grotian Drama”, in: Grotius and the Stoa, ed. Blom/Winkel, Assen, 2004, pp. 117-156.
2006
Introduction to Petrus Cunaeus, The Hebrew Republic, ed. Peter Wyetzner, Jerusalem/New York, 2006, pp. IX-LXX.
2009
“Authority vs. Authenticity. The Leiden Debate on Bible and Hebrew (1575-165)0”, in Hebraic Aspects of the Renaissance, 
Sources and Encounter; Brill Jewish Studies, pp. 128-148.
2013
“ ‘The Unacknowledged Legislators of Mankind’; Greek Playwrights as Moral Guidance to 
Hugo Grotius’s Social Philosophy, in: The Early Modern Cultures of Neo-Latin Drama, Louvain 2013, pp. 203-217.
2021
“Literary Writings”, in The Cambidge Companion to Hugo Grotius, ed. R. Lesaffer and J.E. Nijman, CUP, Cambridge 2021, pp. 293-314.
2022
“Natural Law and National Polity, The Leiden Discourse on State and Church (1575-1625), in Sacred Policies, Natural Law and the Law of Nations in the 16th-17th Centuries, ed. H.W. Blom, pp. 29-55.
2022
Grotius on Natural Law: An Inventory of Propositions” in Sacred Policies, Natural Law and the Law of Nations in the 16th-17th Centuries, ed. H.W. Blom, pp. 173-199.


1983-2020
A Range of Exhibitions and Catalogues.
Arthur Eyffinger classicist historian

The History of International Law / 
International The Hague

Monographs
1988
The Peace Palace: Residence for Justice, Domicile of Learning, The Hague 1988. Various Reprints over 1988-2013.
1988
Het Vredespaleis, The Hague 1988. Various Reprints over 1988-2013.
1989
Compendium Volkenrechtsgeschiedenis [ed.]; upgraded edition 1991.
1992
Cornelis van Vollenhoven (1874-1933), The Hague.
1996
The International Court of Justice, Dordrecht.
1999
La Cour internationale de Justice, Dordrecht.
1999
The 1899 First Hague Peace Conference. The Parliament of Man, the Federation of the World, Dordrecht.
2003
The Hague, International Centre of Justice and Peace, The Hague; Second Edition 2005.
2004
The Trusteeship of an Ideal; The Carnegie Foundation, Vignettes of a Century 1904-2004, The Hague.
2007
The 1907 Hague Peace Conference; The Conscience of the Civilised World, The Hague.
2009
Self-Defence as a Fundamental Principle. Eds. A. Eyffinger, A. Stephens, S. Muller, The Hague
2009
Guide to International Organizations in The Hague. upgraded versions 2011, 2013.
2011
T.M.C. Asser [1838-1913], Founder of the Hague Tradition; The Hague.
2013
The Stars of Eternal Truth and Right: Bertha Von Suttner’s Campaigning for Peace, Social Justice, and Womanhood, Oisterwijk.
2019
The Institut de droit international: Cradle and Creed of the City of Justice and Peace, 2nd ed., Oisterwijk.
2019
T.M.C. Asser (1838-1913): ‘In Quest of Liberty, Justice, and Peace”, 2 Vols., Studies in the History of International Law, ed. R. Lesaffer, Vol. 13/1-2.
2023
The World Court, Vol. I: The Constitution (1870-1920), The Hague.
2024
The World Court, Vol. II: the PCIJ (1921-1946), The Hague.
2026
A World Court Trilogy, Illustrated Edition and Text Only Edition.

Catalogues / Exhibitions
1998
The Future of War, St. Petersburg, Hermitage
1999
The Hague, City of Peace and Justice. Centennial First Hague Peace Conference.
1999
Museum International Court of Justice, The Hague
2000
European Peace Museum, Burg Schlaining, Austria
2002
Internationalism and Peace Studies; Exhibitions Geneva and Luzern.
2003
International Centre of Justice and Peace. Exhibition The Hague,
2003
Commission Netherlands Ministry Foreign Affairs occasioned by Chairmanship OSC: 2003: Exhibitions on the international institutions at The Hague on display in Vienna (Hofburg); Vienna, U.N. International Centre (V.I.C.); U.N. Geneva (Palais des Nations); Sofia (Municipal Art Gallery); St. Petersburg (Law Faculty, Dom Juridika); Moscow; 2004: Exhibition in Atrium, The Hague City Centre; 2006: Exhibitions in Perth (Australia); Colombo (Sri Lanka).
2004
The Carnegie Foundation (1904-2004); Museum Mesdag, The Hague.
2005
Bertha von Suttner; Public Library, The Hague
2007
Feodor Martens and The Hague; Exhibition in Tallinn, Estonia.
2008
Centre for Internationalism; Atrium, The Hague City Centre, The Hague.
2012
A Grotian Moment; New Church, Delft.
2013
Women for Peace. Atrium, The Hague City Centre, The Hague.

Papers
1998
“Europe in the Balance: An Appraisal of the Westphalian System”, in: NILR 45 (1998), pp. 161-187.
1998
“The Morality of Necessity. Dutch Foreign Policy and the International Legal Order”, in: The Foreign Ministry 200 Years, pp. 145-163.
2000
”The Beginning, Not the End! An Appraisal of the 1899 Hague Peace Conference”, in: The Centennial of the First International Peace Conference. Reports and Conclusions, speech [13.pdf.]
1999
“In the Midst of the Throng and Crush – The Dutch Policy at the First Hague Peace Conference”, in: The Centennial of the First International Peace Conference. Reports and Conclusions [1899nl.pdf]
2000
“Frieden durch Recht, Symbole des Friedens. Eine Sprache ohne Grenzen?” in: Zur Kultus des Friedens, 2000, pp. 182-191, Austria.
2002
“A Place in Valhalla! A Portrait of Elie Ducommun retraced in The Hague”, in: Elie Ducommun 1833-1906 (2002), pp. 51-92.
2004
“The Hague, International Centre of Peace and Justice”, in: The Low Countries 2004, pp. 214-223.
2005
“Living Up to a Tradition”, In: The Hague, Legal Capital of the World, ed. P.J. van Krieken, D. McKay, The Hague 2005, pp. 29-45.
2007
Vreedzame geschillenbeslechting (co-author Pieter Kooijmans), in Handboek Internationaal Recht, ed. N. Hornbach, R. Lefeber, O. Ribbelink, The Hague, pp. 347-384.
2009
“Self-Defence, or the Meanderings of a Protean Principle”, In: Self-Defence as a Fundamental Principle; Eds. A. Eyffinger, A. Stephens, S. Muller, The Hague 2009, pp. 103-138.
2010
“A Caravan Passes By; The Centenary of the Netherlands Society of International Law”, in NILR 57 (2010), pp. 143-168.
2012
“Diplomacy”, in: The Oxford Handbook of the History of International Law, eds. B. Fassbender, A. Peters, Oxford 2012, pp. 814-839.
2019
“Tobias Asser’s Legacy: The Pertinence of the Institut de droit international to The Hague”, in NILR 66/2 (2019), pp. 313-351.
2022
“The World Court at One Hundred: Some Cursory Remarks at a Centenary”, in Jus Gentium, Journal of International Legal History, Vol. 7. No. 2 (2022), pp. 239-330.
2023
“The Dutch Branch: KNVIR”, in Jubilee Volume ILA (1873-1923) forthcoming.
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