James Messeas (1880 or 1881 – 1955) was a Dutch cellist, member of Verbrugghen String Quartet. Messeas was born in Amsterdam. His parents were Spanish, the father being the principal double bass in the Paleis voor Volksvlijt Orchestra (Amsterdam). His uncle was violinist in Paris under Hector Berlioz. Both the father and the uncle provided the young Messeas with his initial musical training. In 1890, after studying the cello for only 12 months, he made a public recital of Julius Klengel's Concertino No. 1, Op. 7. The following year the boy went to Scotland. There he met Willy Benda, who gave him a scholarship at the . He later returned to Germany to finish his studies with Klengel.