SIMONS, WALTER

born Sept. 24, 1861, Elberfeld, Westphalia died July 14, 1937, Babelsberg, Ger. German jurist who served as interim president of the Weimar Republic, March to May 1925. After serving in the German foreign ministry from 1911 to 1921, he became president of the German Supreme Court (192229). When President Friedrich Ebert died, Simons became temporary president until the election and installation of Paul von Hindenburg. Simons also taught at the University of Leipzig from 1927.