Professor Johan Erauw, a former vice-chairman of CEPANI and a long-time member of the CEPANI Board, and former professor private international law at the University of Ghent, regrettably passed away on 3 September 2025, at the age of 76. He lost his wife a few years ago. He is survived by two children and five grandchildren.
Johan Erauw was born in 1948 in Wetteren (East Flanders), and received his secondary education in Port Elisabeth (South Africa), Antwerp and Ghent. From a very young age, he had an international experience, which he never abandoned for the rest of his life.
After having accomplished his studies in law at the University of Ghent in 1972, Johan Erauw became doctor in law at the University of Ghent in 1981 with a thesis on “Torts in the conflicts of laws”. In 1983, he was a Fulbright visiting scholar at the University of Minnesota Law School, Minneapolis. From 1981 until 2014, he taught several courses at the University of Ghent: private international law; advanced study of international contractual relationships; advanced study of private international procedural law; resolution of private disputes in international trade; international commercial transactions. He was director of the Department of Procedural Law, Arbitration and Private International Law at the Ghent Law Faculty. He took the initiative to participate with students of the Ghent Law Faculty in the Willem Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot competition in Vienna. Professor Johan Erauw also acted as the promotor for many scholars defending their doctoral thesis (including the author of this obituary). From 2004 until 2008, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the University of Ghent.
In parallel to his teaching at the University of Ghent, Johan Erauw was also an adjunct professor at American University, Washington College of Law. Moreover, he also taught for many years at the East China University of Politics and Law, in Shanghai, and at the China University of Political Science and Law in Bejing. In 2005, he became Doctor Honoris Causa at the East China University of Political Science and Law, in Shanghai. He was a member of the International Commercial Expert Committee of the Supreme People’s Court of China and, furthermore, was recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award, being the highest distinction which foreigners can receive in China. He was also a Member of the “Institut de Droit International” (the Institute of International Law).
Moreover, Johan Erauw has always sought to combine his academic activities at the University of Ghent with different activities outside the University. For a number of years, he was in part in-house legal counsel with an international textile company with its corporate offices in Belgium. But he also practiced in part as a practising lawyer in law firms in Ghent and Brussels and he also served as arbitrator in many international commercial arbitrations around the world.
Johan Erauw has been a prolific author and speaker on topics of private international law and international dispute resolution. His book “Bronnen van international privaatrecht” has over the years been published in many editions. He published hundreds of articles and notes in many different law journals in Belgium and abroad. Johan Erauw created at the University of Ghent the “Tijdschrift@ipr.be”, an online review on private international law in Dutch and French language. He was also a member of the editorial board of several journals in Belgium and abroad in the field of private international law and, for many years, he was a member of the Board of Advisors of the Dutch language weekly law journal “Rechtskundig Weekblad”.
Through his publications, lectures, and involvement in professional organizations, Professor Johan Erauw earned recognition both in Belgium and abroad as a leading voice in his field. His legacy will continue to inspire.