Stefan Riesenfeld

Stefan Albrecht Riesenfeld (born June 8, 1908 in Breslau ; † February 17, 1999 in Berkeley ) was a German - American legal scholar .

Life

Riesenfeld studied law at the University of Breslau . He left Germany in 1932 because of the increasing influence of the National Socialists . First he went to Milan , in 1935 he emigrated to the USA, whose citizenship he acquired in 1940. He served in the US Navy for three years during World War II . He died of heart failure at the age of 90. He left behind his wife, two sons and two grandchildren.

Scientific work

Riesenfeld obtained a doctorate degree (summa cum laude) as early as 1930, and in 1934 he also received his doctorate in Milan. In the USA he also obtained an American degree and then worked as a research assistant before being appointed professor . His areas of expertise included international law , comparative law , property law , bankruptcy law, administrative law and legal history .

He advised the "Office of the High Commissioner" in occupied post-war Germany and thus influenced the creation of the Basic Law . He later advised on the Panama Canal Treaty , the recognition of Taiwan and the hostage-taking of Tehran .

Honors

• Honorary doctorate from the Law Faculty of the University of Cologne , 1970
• Admission as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , 1976
• Ius inter nations: Festschrift for Stefan Riesenfeld on the occasion of his 75th birthday. Heidelberg 1983.

Web links

• Obituary on berkeley.edu
• University of California obituary
• Literature by and about Stefan Riesenfeld in the catalog of the German National Library
• Hit at the Library of Congress
• Part of Stefan Riesenfeld's estate in the German Exile Archive of the German National Library