George A. Finch

George Augustus Finch (born  September 22, 1884 , †  July 17, 1957 ) was an American lawyer who was particularly active in the field of international law .

Life

Finch received his college education from Georgetown University . After graduating in 1907, he worked as a senior clerk at the United States Department of State . There he worked for James Brown Scott , among others . When he moved to the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace in 1911 to take over the management of the department for international law issues, he convinced Finch to move there as well. In addition to his work for the foundation, Finch was also involved to a considerable extent in the American Society for International Law. Until 1940 Finch was Scott's deputy in the Carnegie Foundation and took over, with his retirement, the head of the department for international law issues. At the same time, he was accepted into the Foundation's Board of Trustees. Finch had already made a name for himself as an expert on international law issues in connection with martial law . For example, in 1918 he was an advisor to the War Industries Board . After the United States entered the First World War , as a member of the State-Navy Neutrality Board , he was primarily entrusted with preparing legal opinions on various questions of martial law for the Secretary of State . He also appeared several times on an international level. For example, after the Compiègne armistice , Finch was sent to Paris as legal advisor to the American commission for the peace negotiations. In 1929 Finch was the representative of the Carnegie Foundation in the Orient. In 1945 he participated as a member of the American delegation at the San Francisco Conference on the establishment of the United Nations . He also continued to advise the government of his home country again and again. Finch has also worked in the academic field. For example, he lectured at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Memberships and honors

From a young age, Finch played a major role as a confidante of James Brown Scott within the American Society for International Law. From 1909 to 1924 he was their deputy general secretary. Between 1924 and 1943 he held the position of general secretary of the society and was also the executive editor of the American Journal of International Law . From 1943 to 1953 he then took on the duties of editor-in-chief of the magazine and was also the company's deputy president. After retiring from day-to-day business, he was appointed deputy honorary president of the company and honorary editor-in-chief. Finch was also a member of the American Bar Association and coordinated its work with the United Nations as vice chairman of a committee. Finch was also a member of the Institut de Droit International , a corresponding member of the Panamanian Academy of International Law and an honorary member of the Hellenic Institute of International and Foreign Law . He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Hague Academy for International Law . For his commitment to Latin American issues, he was accepted as an officer in the Order of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and awarded the Order of Vasco Núñez de Balboa . He was also awarded an honorary doctorate from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki .

Publications (selection)

• The sources of modern international law . Carnegie Endowment of International Peace, Washington 1937.
• Adventures in internationalism: a biography of James Brown Scott . The Lawbook Exchange, Clark (NJ) 2012, ISBN 978-1-61619-165-8 (edited by William Elliott Butler).

literature

• Lester H. Woolsey: George A. Finch, September 22, 1884 - July 17, 1957 . In: American Journal of International Law . Vol. 51, No. 4 . American Society of International Law, 1957, ISSN  0002-9300 , pp. 754-757 , doi : 10.2307 / 2195352 .