en Samuel von Cocceji

Samuel von Cocceji
Samuel von Cocceji
	Portrait by Anna Rosina de Gasc (1737)
Prussian Minister of Justice
	In office; 1737–1755
Preceded by	Inaugural holder
Succeeded by	Philipp Joseph von Jariges
Personal details
Born	20 October 1679; Heidelberg
Died	4 October 1755 (aged 75); Berlin
Parent	Heinrich von Cocceji (father)

Samuel Freiherr von Cocceji (pronounced kok-'tse-yi) (20 October 1679 – 4 October 1755) was a German official from the Electorate of the Palatinate who served Brandenburg-Prussia and the Kingdom of Prussia. He was the son of Heinrich von Cocceji.

Early life

Cocceji was born on 20 October 1679 in Heidelberg.^[1] Cocceji studied law with his father Heinrich von Cocceji, received his doctorate in 1699 and, embarked on a three-year educational trip through Italy, France, England and Holland.

Career

In 1702, after his European travels, he became a professor of law at Viadrina University in Frankfurt (Oder). By 1723 he was Kammergerichtspräsident (president of the Kammergericht) and from 19 September 1731 to 1737 he served as the president of the Oberappellationsgericht zu Berlin (Court of Appeal in Berlin), the highest court of Prussia.^[2]

In 1738 and 1739, Cocceji was chairman of the Prussian justice department, before he was made Großkanzler (grand chancellor) in 1747. King Frederick II of Prussia appointed Cocceji to lead the legal reorganization of annexed Silesia. Cocceji subsequently reformed the legal system of all of Prussia.^[3]

Personal life

Cocceji married Johanna Charlotte von Bechefer, daughter of the Prussian Lieutenant general Jakob von Bechefer. Together they had three daughters and three sons, including:

Sophia Susanna Charlotte von Cocceji (c. 1720–1794), who married Gen. Dubislav Friedrich von Platen
Karl Ludwig von Cocceji (1724–1808), who became senior district president of Glogau.
Johann Heinrich Friedrich von Cocceji (1726–c. 1799), who became a Prussian colonel and royal adjutant general.
Carl Friedrich Ernst von Cocceji (1728–1780), a general in the service of the last King of Poland, Stanislaus II
Luise von Cocceji, who never married and was maid of honor to Prussian Queen Elisabeth Christine.
Amalie Charlotte Henriette von Cocceji (1729–1757), who married Baron Mathieu II von Vernezobre-Laurieux (1721–1782).

Cocceji died on 4 October 1755.^[1]

Notes

Regarding personal names: Freiherr is a former title (translated as 'Baron'). In Germany since 1919, it forms part of family names. The feminine forms are Freifrau and Freiin.

References

Citations

^ ^a ^b Klemme & Kuehn 2016, p. 138.
^ Sonnenschmidt 1879, pp. 416–422.
^ Project des Corporis Juris Fridericiani (in French). Vol. 2. Berlin. 1752.

Sources

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wood, James, ed. (1907). "Cocceji, Samuel". The Nuttall Encyclopædia. London and New York: Frederick Warne. p. 152.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Prussia" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Klemme, Heiner F.; Kuehn, Manfred, eds. (2016). "Cocceji, Samuel von". The Bloomsbury Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century German Philosophers. Bloomsbury. pp. 138–139. ISBN 9781474255981.
Sonnenschmidt, Friedrich Hermann (1879). Geschichte des Königlichen Ober-Tribunals zu Berlin (in German). Berlin: Heymanns.