Sobre a Origem do Poder Civil

Paulo Merêa (Lisbon, 1889 - Caramulo, 1977) - One of the most notable figures in Portuguese universities in the 20th century, he was a professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra, where he taught from 1914 until his retirement in 1949, with the exception of the period from 1923 to 1932, when he taught at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon. Between 1921 and 1923 he held the chair of History of Portugal at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Coimbra. He received honorary doctorates from the Faculty of Law of the University of Santiago de Compostela (1948) and from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Coimbra (1950). He was a founding member of the Portuguese Academy of History and a member of the Academy of Sciences and the Royal Academy of History of Madrid. He chaired the Commission in charge of publishing the Portuguese Medieval Documents of the Portuguese Academy of History. His work spans diverse areas, ranging from the history of legal institutions to the teaching of law, from the history of political ideas to historical and legal philology. He played an important role in the final drafting of the 1966 Civil Code, with functions similar to those Herculano had performed in relation to the Seabra Code. He received the National Grand Prize for Culture in 1971.