MOSER, Johann Jakob (1701-1785), jurist, was born at Stuttgart on 18th January 1701. He studied at the university of Tübingen, where, at the early age of nineteen, he became professor extraordinarius of law. A year later he resigned his chair, with the expectation of receiving an appointment at Vienna, but this was refused him on his declining to join the Catholic Church. From 1729 he for some years held an ordinary professorship of law at Tübingen, and in 1736 he accepted a chair and directorship in the university of Frankfort-on-the-Oder. On account, however, of differences with King William I. of Prussia, he resigned these in 1739 and retired to Ebersdorf, a village in the principality of Reuss, where for several years he devoted himself wholly to study, and especially to the production of his Deutsches Staatsrecht. In 1751 he was called back to Würtemberg as “landschaftsconsulent,” and in 1759 was imprisoned at Hohentwiel on account of the steps he had taken in connexion with this office against certain tyrannical proceedings of the duke. In 1764 he received his liberty and was restored to office, but from that time took little part in political affairs. He died 30th September 1785.

Moser was the first to discuss in an adequate form the subject of European international law, and he is the most voluminous German writer on public law. In all, he wrote more than 500 volumes, his principal works being Deutsches Staatsrecht, 1737-1754; Neues Deutsches Staatsrecht, 1766-1775; Deutsches Staatsarchiv, 1751-1757; Grundriss der heutigen Staatsverfassung von Deutschland, 1754. See Schmid, Das Leben J. J. Moser's, 1868; Schulze, J. J. Moser, der Vater des Deutschen Staatsrechts, 1869.