Fritz Reichert-Facilides (†)

* 24 October 1929  † 23 October 2003

On 23 October 2003 Fritz Reichert-Facilides passed away following heart surgery. With his death, the Restatement Group lost its founder and longstanding chairman. Reichert-Facilides was an outstanding member of the European Scientific Community.

Born in Bremerhaven/Germany, Fritz Reichert-Facilides studied law at the Universities of Hamburg and Tübingen. Following completion of his studies he earned a PhD-degree at the University of Hamburg (Department of Insurance Law - Prof. Hans Möller) in 1956. Post graduate studies (LL.M.-program) at the University of Michigan/Ann Arbor followed.

Fritz Reichert-Facilides joined the Max-Planck-Institute for Foreign Private and Private International Law as a scientific referee in 1962. Five years later he gained his Habilitation in Civil and Commercial Law, Insurance Law, as well as Comparative and Private International Law, at the University of Hamburg (with Prof. Konrad Zweigert). In 1970, Reichert-Facilides was appointed Full Professor of Law at the University of Innsbruck/Austria where he taught until he became emeritus professor in 1998.

In his academic work, Reichert-Facilides focussed on the international dimension of the law and on insurance law in particular. Reichert-Facilides was an expert on the law of the Principality of Liechtenstein which he also taught at the University of Innsbruck. He is one of the founding fathers of the European Ombudsman Institute (EOI) and he also took the initiative to establish a diploma course in Italian law at the University of Innsbruck in cooperation with the University of Padova/Italy.

In honour of his achievements, Fritz Reichert-Facilides was awarded medals and assigned honorary posts, among them the "Große Verdienstkreuz der Bundesrepublik Deutschland" and the "Große Silberne Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich". He was a corresponding member of the "Academy of Science and Literature Mainz", a member of the Commission on European Law of the "Austrian Academy of Sciences" and an honorary knight of the "Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Commandery of Austria".

Fritz Reichert-Facilides was a loyal colleague and dear friend to each Group member as well as an understanding academic teacher to the writers of this obituary. His charming personality and his supreme eloquence will be kept alive in our memory.

Greifswald/Innsbruck, 1st November 2003

Helmut Heiss, Leander D. Loacker