Louis Casimir Elisabeth Moreau-Lislet

Background

Louis Moreau-Lislet was born in 1766, in Cap Français, Santo Domingo, a French dependency (now Cap-Haïtien, Haiti).

Education

He received in France a solid education both in languages and law.

Career

Moreau-Lislet came to New Orleans in his thirties, probably driven from his native land by the negro revolution under Dessalines. He adopted the name Lislet to distinguish himself from an elder brother.

In 1805, with Edward Livingston, Pierre A. C. B. Derbigny, and Étienne Mazureau, he won a judicial decision insuring the recognition of the Roman Civil Law in Louisiana.

In the following year he published Explication des Lois Criminelles du Territoire d'Orléans (1806), and with James Brown was commissioned by the legislature to prepare a code, which under the title Digeste des lois civiles maintenant en vigueur dans le Territoire d'Orléans was published in both French and English editions in 1808. He served as a parish judge and worked on a translation of Spanish laws.

In 1817 he became attorney-general but soon resigned to accept a state senatorship.

Three years later, with the collaboration of Henry Carleton, he published The Laws of Las Siete Partidas Which Are Still in Force in the State of Louisiana (2 vols. , 1820). He was immediately selected with Derbigny and Livingston to prepare a revised code, which, as Civil Code of the State of Louisiana, appeared in 1825. In the meantime Moreau continued as the representative of the second district of New Orleans in the state legislature.

In 1828 he issued A General Digest of the Acts of the Legislature of Louisiana, Passed from the Year 1804 to 1827, Inclusive. His last public act was to sign a proclamation, June 26, 1832, calling a mass meeting to oppose Nullification. He died less than six months later on December 3, 1832, in New Orleans, Louisiana, at the age of sixty-five.

Achievements

• Louis Casimir Elisabeth Moreau-Lislet was the most influential civil law jurist in Louisiana during the territorial period. He published "explication des lois criminelles du territoire d' orleans" and this led to his commission to co-write the civil code which was adopted by the territorial legislature in 1808.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Civil Code of the State of Louisiana, Preceded by the Treaty of Cession with France, the Constitution of the United States of America, and of the State.

    (Title: Civil Code of the State of Louisiana, Preceded by ...)

  • A General Digest of the Acts of the Legislature of Louisiana: Passed from the Year 804, Zo 827, Inclusive, and in Force at this Last Period Volume 1

    (This is a reproduction of a classic text optimised for ki...)

Personality

Louis Moreau-Lislet possessed an excellent command of his mother tongue, a deep knowledge of Spanish legal history; and a trained mind thoroughly versed in the law.

Connections

Louis Moreau-Lislet married Anne Philipine de Peters who bore him one child, a daughter.

Wife:

Anne Philipine de Peters

colleague:

Edward Livingston

Edward Livingston was an American jurist and statesman.

colleague:

Étienne Mazureau

Étienne Mazureau was an American lawyer, serving three times as Attorney General of Louisiana and as Secretary of State of Louisiana.

colleague:

Pierre Augustin Charles Bourguignon Derbigny

Pierre Augustin Charles Bourguignon Derbigny was the sixth Governor of Louisiana.