POTHIER, Robert-Joseph. - Jurist, born in Orléans on 9 January 1699, died there on 2 March 1772. After completing his early studies in his native city under the guidance of the learned abbot of St-Wandrille (who was also a Carthusian), he attended the Jesuit college there and later the university courses, soon becoming a magistrate (1720).
At the age of fifty he was called to teach law at the University of Orléans, succeeding one of the most learned professors and magistrates of the time, the Prevost de la Jannès. His juridical knowledge extended, through rich research and commentary, from Roman law to canon law and to the *courumier*, which at that time in France was applied to supplement and interpret common law. The principal qualities of his writings are the simplicity and clarity of their exposition. He spent twelve years preparing a voluminous work on the Pandects (*Pandectae Iustinianae in novum ordinem digestae*, Paris 1748-52), with which he aimed to systematically reorganize the various fragments of each title in the Digest. His distinctive qualities as a jurist, however, are fully evident in his treatment of various institutions of private law (*Traité des obligations*, Paris 1761; *Traité sur différentes matières du droit civil*, 1773), works which gave a systematic direction to French juridical doctrine. These works, widely circulated and appreciated in the 18th century, exerted considerable influence on the compilation of the Napoleonic Code (1804); the principles of Roman law were taken into account in its preparatory work through Pothier’s interpretations.
The most recent edition of his works is that edited by V. Bugnet, *Oeuvres de P., annotées et mises en conciliation avec le Code*, 11 vols., 2nd ed., Paris 1861-62.